SMITHFIELD - Town officials announced Tuesday night that they have hired Michael Leslie Scott, assistant police chief for the town of Muscatine, Iowa, as Smithfield's new police chief.

Scott will take over the position from Interim Police Chief Bruce Gentry on Oct. 26. He will make an annual salary of $76,960.

"I am extraordinarily pleased to make this appointment and have the utmost confidence in the new chief's ability to develop the Smithfield Police Department," Town Manager Eric Williams said.

Scott has been with the Muscatine Police Department since 1984. Muscatine is a town in central Iowa with a population of 23,000.

Williams said the town did not have as many qualified in-state applicants as he'd hoped. He noted that Garner's finalists for its new police chief are also primarily from other states.