Unless otherwise restricted or prohibited by
public policy and/or other applicable statutes or regulations, and
only to the extent that any claim, judgment, cost or expense exceeds
any applicable insurance coverage or indemnity, whether secured by
the Township or officer or employee, the Township, acting through
its Board of Supervisors, shall have the power to indemnify any officer
or employee who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party
to any threatened, pending or completed action or proceeding, whether
civil, criminal, administrative or investigative, by reason of the
fact that he/she is or was an officer or employee of the Township
against expenses (including reasonable attorney's fees and costs),
judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably
incurred by him/her in connection with the action or proceeding if
he/she acted in good faith and in a manner he/she reasonably believed
to be in, or not opposed to, the best interest of the Township and
with respect to any criminal proceeding had no reasonable cause to
believe his/her conduct was unlawful.
The termination of any action or proceeding
by judgment, order, settlement or conviction upon a plea of nolo contendere,
or consent decree or its equivalent, shall not of itself create a
presumption that the person did not act in good faith and in a manner
he/she reasonably believed to be in and not opposed to the best interest
of the Township, and with respect to any criminal proceeding had reasonable
cause to believe that his/her conduct was unlawful.
Action under this chapter is to be taken solely
in the exercise of the discretion of the Township Board of Supervisors
and is not intended to create any contract or property right in any
officer, employee or in any third party in the nature of a third-party
beneficiary, creditor, beneficiary or like status.