Tag Archives: Texas constables

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This constable earns his pay

DRIPPING SPRINGS, Texas — Those who know my views on things know that I have had a long-standing loathing of constable offices.

I consider them to be non-essential functions of law enforcement in counties where their duties could be performed by municipal police officers or county sheriff’s deputies. They cost counties — and the state — money that could be spent in other areas.

However …

While visiting my wife’s brother, I heard a story this morning that proves that in at least one Texas county, constables are able to perform an actual function that justifies their existence.

Here’s how the story goes.

My brother-in-law was visiting friends at a local diner recently in Dripping Springs, a tiny town just west of Austin. A constable burst into the place and told my brother-in-law that he needed a juror to sit in on a trial being held at a justice of the peace court in the county seat of San Marcos.

Michael’s friend said he was too busy, as he had to attend a funeral later that morning. The constable turned to Michael and said, in effect, “OK, pal, you’re it. Come with me.”

My brother-in-law accompanied the constable to the courtroom, took his seat on the six-person jury and listened to a trial involving a fellow who was being evicted from the house where he lived. It was a slam-dunk case for the county, my brother-in-law said, and the jury voted to toss the guy out of his house.

I heard the story and couldn’t stop laughing. The very idea of a uniformed law enforcement officer virtually ordering someone to serve on a jury is something I’ve never witnessed, or frankly, ever even heard of happening. It does, quite obviously, in some rural counties that employ constables.

My feelings about the office haven’t changed. I still believe the Texas Legislature needs to give counties the power to get rid of the office if they see fit. Randall County, where my wife and I live, has suffered through constable woes for longer than officials care to admit. They can’t get rid of the office, because the Legislature doesn’t give counties the power to act cleanly.

Hays County, at least, puts their constables to work. More power to them here, just not where I live.

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Constables … who needs 'em?

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One of my better friends in town is an Amarillo police captain who used to be a Randall County constable.

He did one job full time. The police department post occupied his professional life. The constable gig was something else again. Jeff Lester ran for constable, didn’t lift a finger on that job while seeking to have it abolished. He then lost his constable job in 2012 after his precinct was gerrymandered in a way that forced him to run for re-election against a couple of guys who wanted to make the job more, um, relevant.

Lester was on to something with his effort to get rid of what I’ve long thought was a superfluous, unnecessary and wasteful elected post.

My hope remains that the Texas Legislature somehow in the near future will find the courage to allow counties such as many of them in this part of the state to get rid of the office.

Constables are a vestige of some old-fashioned custom years ago that allowed these individuals to act as bailiffs in justice of the peace courts. They also are empowered to perform other law enforcement functions. They can write tickets for traffic violations. They also serve warrants and court papers to those involved in litigation.

Voters must elect these people, which in Texas is no big shakes, given that we elect everyone to every office under the sun.

But I’ve never quite understood why in a state — that in recent years has taken some pride in proclaiming to be the model of “government efficiency” — that we continue to have this elected law enforcement office at all. Nor have I understood why the duties I mentioned earlier cannot be done by other law enforcement agencies, such as, oh, municipal police departments and sheriff’s departments.

It’s maddening in the extreme.

I get that some larger urban counties use constables with some effectiveness. Let them keep doing so.

Here? It’s a different animal, as I’ve noticed over the years.

We’ve elected some constables who’ve suited up, strapped on the pistol and patrolled the streets of their constable precincts. We’ve had others who haven’t done a damn thing, yet still get paid for holding an office. Yet, the counties are virtually powerless to do anything about them.

Once in a while, you hear about constables being elected who aren’t even certified by Texas law enforcement regulators. Back in Jefferson County, we had a guy elected constable who wasn’t yet licensed to perform the duties to which he was elected; the state gave him the time he needed to get certified; he didn’t, and then the state essentially kicked him out of office.

Texas does not need constables. When will our Legislature find the guts it needs to get rid of the office?