Officials began to advertise for a new Bothell police chief last month.

The next head of the city’s police force will replace Chief Forrest Conover who, as previously announced, is retiring after serving with the department since 1984.

Conover’s last day on the job is slated to be Jan. 31, 2011.

While they are near the beginning of the search for a new police chief, Assistant City Manager Steve Anderson noted Bothell officials are in the last stages of replacing the city’s public works director. He further stated that Bothell replaced its fire chief last year and that the process for finding a new police chief will be very similar.

Police-chief candidates can apply between now and Sept. 26. If they don’t find the person they want, local officials can extend that deadline, but Anderson doesn’t see that happening.

“This is a good job, a good city, so we should attract a lot of good candidates,” he said, adding the job announcement already had gotten some attention from candidates within Washington, as well as from California.

The city hired executive search firm Prothman of Bellevue to help with finding Conover’s successor. Anderson expects officials to pick four to six finalists to bring in for face-to-face interviews set for mid-November. He said that ideally the new chief will be in place by late December or early January.

As with all city appointments, City Manager Bob Stowe has the final say. Anderson said elected officials are not involved directly. Under Bothell’s form of government, city council appoints the city manager, who then makes all other appointments.

According to the four-page job announcement, a copy of which is posted on the city Web site, the new chief will earn between approximately $114,000 and $146,000 annually for overseeing a department of roughly 84 employees. That number includes 58 commissioned officers who responded to some 25,678 calls for service in 2009. The department budget equaled $23 million last year.

Specific requirements for the chief’s spot include a bachelor’s degree and seven years of management-level law-enforcement experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience. The ad notes that FBI Academy training is preferred. Some skills and qualities listed are what one might expect, such as possessing up-to-date policing techniques, having budget experience and the ability to handle contract negotiations.

On another front, the ad states the new chief will face a number of challenges including an expanding downtown, a potential near-doubling of the city’s population if northern annexation plans move forward and “maintaining the city’s low crime rate.”

As for the public works director, Anderson said he has been serving as interim head of that department since the departure of Doug Jacobson in March. He said Bothell received 42 applications for the open spot, including 24 from out of state. Officials narrowed the candidates down to five finalists who have gone through a series of interviews with Stowe and various department heads. Anderson expects a new director to be on the job by mid-October.