A Vicksburg police officer accused of failing to cooperate with an internal investigation has appealed the city’s decision to fire her, her attorney said.

Taffela Mills, 41, an eight-year officer with the Vicksburg Police Department, was accused of insubordination, said attorney, Richard Dean.

The Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted to fire Mills at its Tuesday meeting, city officials said. Personnel actions are taken in closed session and, normally, not made public unless or until an appeal is filed.

Mills’ hearing will be before the Vicksburg Civil Service Commission, which is to meet Wednesday and may set a date for a hearing then.

Mills had been suspended by the city board Sept. 5 following &#8220investigation into an incident that occurred on Sept. 3,” a document filed with the Vicksburg Civil Service Commission by the city’s legal department says.

Dean said the investigation was into an incident that happened while Mills was off-duty and that resulted in her being charged with misdemeanors.

&#8220Our position is that she was never given a proper opportunity to cooperate” with the investigation, Dean said.

Dean said another Vicksburg attorney, Travis Vance, has represented Mills in the criminal charges against her. Vance said one of the charges has been dismissed and the other was on appeal to Warren County Court.

Mills, also a member of the U.S. Coast Guard, had served several deployments with that service, taking leave from the VPD amounting to nearly half her time with the department to do so.

Mills had returned from her most-recent deployment in about July, said Lamar Horton, director of human resources.

Separately, Mills appealed to the commission the suspension that preceded her firing. The city argued, successfully, that that appeal was not filed within a 10-day window following the city board’s decision.

An appeal to Warren County Circuit Court of the commission’s decision in that matter is also on file.