BRINKLEY, Ark. (KTHV) --  The Brinkley City Council had emergency meeting Thursday afternoon to place their city's police chief, Michael Edwards, on paid administrative leave pending an investigation by Arkansas State Police.

Brinkley Mayor Billy Hankins tells us this all comes after another officer within the department made a complaint.

"These are serious allegations that violate the city personnel policy is the only thing I can say as far as what kind of allegations," said Hankins.

In a lawsuit filed yesterday in federal court against Edwards and the city, a Brinkley police officer alleges she has been discriminated against because she is female. It goes on to claim sexual misconduct by the chief towards the officer over a period of several months. Mayor Hankins says in addition to the state police criminal investigation, there is also an investigation being done by the city.

"We want to expedite this as fast as we possibly can so that we can get to the end of this matter right here and again, we want to be sure that our investigation is fair to both parties involved," said Hankins.

Mayor Hankins says he has asked Brinkley's C-I-D officer, Captain Ed Randalls, to serve as interim police chief until further notice.

Chief Edwards is a veteran of the Brinkley Police Department. He was promoted to the position of chief in September of last year.

You can follow Lisa Hutson on Twitter @LisaHutsonTHV.