Former Loudon Police Chief Kris Burgess quietly resigned from the department in May and took a job as a patrolman in neighboring Gilmanton, according to Loudon Board of Selectmen Chair Jeff Miller and to Gilmanton Board of Selectmen meeting minutes.

Burgess, who had been Loudon’s police chief since 2016, wrote in his resignation letter that “I do not believe I was ever given a fair chance to succeed as a Chief.”

“I couldn’t be happier where I am today,” Burgess wrote in a brief email declining at this time to discuss his time in Loudon.

Burgess made “a personal choice to resign and seek employment elsewhere,” Miller wrote in a statement. “We wish him the best.”

Loudon Police Lieutenant Dana Flanders was promoted to acting police chief following Burgess’s departure. The Board of Selectmen is currently considering how to fill the role permanently, and hasn’t decided whether to hire internally or externally, Miller wrote.

Last year, Burgess took home $84,611, according to a Loudon annual report. As a patrolman in Gilmanton – a department slightly smaller than Loudon’s – it was not clear what his salary would be. Last year, the highest-paid patrolman made $126,642.84 and the chief made $106,505.17, according to a Gilmanton annual report.

Burgess was hired by Gilmanton on May 6 and submitted his resignation to the Loudon Board of Selectmen on May 8.

Jeremy Margolis can be contacted at jmargolis@cmonitor.com.