Monday, June 23, 2014

JJ editorial: Lindsay agreed not to "seek public office". He should honor the agreement.

JJ obtained a copy of a letter signed by Rankin County constable Charles Lindsay, Jr. promising not to run for office again.The letter states:

"I wish to acknowledge that as part of my agreement with the state of Mississippi in regard to the criminal charges pending against me, and other possible charges that could be lodged against me, I do hereby agree not to seek public office in the future in the state of Mississippi, whether by appointment or election."
JJ did not obtain the letter from District Attorney Michael Guest but he did confirm its authenticity.  The agreement was part of a controversy three years ago when Mr. Lindsay ran for Justice Court Judge.  JJ posted in 2011:

It seems we have a rat in the woodpile known as the Rankin County Justice Court District 2 election. Former Rankin County Constable Charles Lindsay, Junior is the candidate in question. Why do I write former? Because he was forced to resign after he tried to steal $28,000 from Rankin County.

The Clarion-Ledger reported on January 7, 2005 Mr. Lindsay resigned "after admitting he falsified court documents to obtain $28,000 in county funds." The wayward constable tried to bill the county for serving papers on people he never contacted or arrested. Mr. Lindsay entered a pre-trial diversion program and was placed on probation for five years. Then District Attorney David Clark stated "In order to do this, he had to sign a confession." However, there was one additional verse to this wretched song of public corruption: "Lindsay agreed never to run for public office again."

So the question must be asked: Why is this crook, and I do mean crook, running for office and why hasn't someone challenged his candidacy? He has no business sitting on the bench- period. What's next for him? Ticket-fixing? Judgments awarded to cute little honeys who come before him? Special deals with favorite lawyers? Apparently Mr. Lindsay got his record expunged after his probation expired. However, Mr. Lindsay still agreed not to run for office. Mr. Lindsay should not sit on any bench but one in the jailhouse, not the courthouse.




Mr. Lindsay should not even be on the ballot but for a quirk in Mississippi law.  It is always troubling when someone in law enforcement thinks the laws do not apply to him.  It is true Mr. Lindsay got his probation expunged.  However, he still confessed to a crime and agreed not to run for office. Either that agreement means something or it doesn't.  Mr. Lindsay wants to have his cake and eat it too as he seeks to fool the voters.   There are allegations his opponent may have had some tax problems but if so, they are civil in nature.  Mr. Windham was never charged with a crime, never convicted of a crime, never served probation, and never agreed to avoid seeking public office due to pending criminal charges.  Mr. Lindsay can not say the same as he confessed to a crime, entered a pre-trial diversion program to avoid conviction, served a term of probation, and agreed never to run for office.  Voters should reject his candidacy tomorrow.

Note: The truth is Mississippi does not need constables.  The office should be abolished and duties folded into the Sheriff's office.  

19 comments:

Seen My Binoculars? said...

Certainly we need the position of constable. If not for that position, where would we put the wannabee cops who want to have dark windows, a pistol and mirrored shades but who are too chicken-shit to attend the academy, wear the uniform and work a shift?

Anonymous said...

Anybody know how much that job pays? Part or full time gig?

Anonymous said...

I don't see why Michael Guest or Delbert, or somebody else hasn't said "Look Charles, you got a pass when we caught you, so get a real job and keep your fuc_g word"!

Must be a reason his "promise" is unenforceable.

Anonymous said...

Someone connected with the Lindsay campaign sent out anonymous letters making allegations against his opponent, Gary Windham. These Lindsay folks have no class.

Leslie said...

And he is running for the very office he violated. I don't understand how he even made it to the run-off unless he is calling in some major favors.

Anonymous said...

www.RankinCountyPolitics.com has been updated with a link to this article.

Anonymous said...

I believe his promise can be enforced despite his successful completion of the pretrial diversion program and the ultimate dismissal and expungement of charge(s) against him.

I'm certain the District Attorney's office would have the legal standing to file a motion to have the plea agreement enforced and "disqualify" Mr. Lindsay from seeking or holding public office. It's a bit more of a stretch but a legitimate argument exists that his opponents (to a greater extent) or the voters of that district (to a lesser extent), as intended beneficiaries of the original plea agreement, could enjoin him from running or holding office.

It's TRO stuff at this point and probably too late now but could be done, in my humble opinion.

The Feds usually extract similar agreements in public official cases.

Charlie said...

Seen my binoculars? I will respond to your extremely unenlightened post. First the office of constable is a constitutional office in Mississippi. The constable is fee paid and serves at no cost to the taxpayers. He purchases his own vehicle, his own fuel,his own insurance and his own weapon(s). In Rankin County the constables serve over 1000 pieces of civil process and warrants each month. Do you think that the sheriff wants that much work load added to his plate? I would certainly think that he would not. In 1986 the Mississippi constables got a bill passed which mandated that all newly elected constables were to attend training set up by the state law enforcement training and standards board.These training requirements, while still in place, have been modified several times, not by the constables, but by your elected legislators. If you have a complaint I would suggest that you address it to your elected senator or representative.This law also mandated uniforms, which have been modified over the past 20+ years as have those of most police departments.Sunglasses and pistols? How many law enforcement officers do you know that don't have sunglasses and carry pistols?Work a shift? There are many days when the constable works 10 to 12 hours serving civil process and warrants, goes home to rest only to be called by dispatch to go and pick up a prisoner from another county who has misdemeanor warrants in his county.A city officer or sheriff's deputy works a shift and goes home until his next shift. A constable is really on duty 24/7.How do I know so much about the constables? I served in the office for 6 four year terms and retired in 2008. I hope that this post helps to enlighten you as to what your constable really does so that you don't make such uninformed accusations in your future posts.

Anonymous said...

Charlie, would you share the annual pay? Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Charlie, would you also happen to know who else got indicted along with Mr. Lindsay? Weren't several other people charged with the same thing?

Charlie said...

8:47 The annual pay would be dependent on how much the constable worked. He is paid a fee of $35 for each summons served and each warrant
executed provided the defendant is found guilty. If the defendant is not found guilty he does not get paid and is out his time, money and fuel cost. There is a provision where he is paid for a small number of cases when the state fails to prove it's case against the defendant. I am not sure how much this is since I believe it has changed since I retired, but it comes nowhere near the amount that the constable loses during a year. These types of warrants are usually where one person files an affidavit against another for assault, trespassing, etc. and there is really no evidence to substantiate the accusation.I know that this probably doesn't answer your question, but truthfully there are so many variables that I don't know the answer.

Anonymous said...

"Charlie".....
The Constable's duties, salary, etc. are a non-issue. The issue here is that Charles Lindsay is a sorry MOFO that tried to steal a shit load of money from the county and got caught.
He does not deserve another "bite at the apple" and he agreed IN WRITING not to pursue any more politics.

That's it. No more, No less.

Anonymous said...

The agreement was poorly drafted and left no remedy should he violate it.

Constables are not given any compensation by the county or state; they earn a profit by being paid for the writs they serve as explained above. A constable in a small rural count is not a very good job; however, being a constable in Madison, Rankin and Hinds county is a lucrative position if they are willing to work the hours. So, they are neither full time nor part time; they work at their own pleasure. Nothing prohibits them having other jobs as well. They serve a function that other law enforcement wants no part of.

Charlie said...

10:27 I was not commenting on anything concerning Mr. Lindsay's status, I was answering a question posted by 8:47PM about what constables are paid. Try reading the posts before you take a poke at others.

Anonymous said...

We used to have a constable in my area who would hang out at a stop sign and pull folks over for rolling stops. Just curious, how much do they collect for writing tickets?

Charlie said...

1:08PM The fee for tickets is $35 if you are convicted $0 if you are not.
Just FYI rolling stops are a violation of the law which says a complete stop and I have seen tickets written for them by city police, sheriff's Dept. and MHP.

Anonymous said...

I understand rolling stops are a violation. I didn't get one. Just witnessed several folks who did, as he would hang out at a busy industrial complex about 5:00 every day for weeks at a time. He has since moved on to bigger and better things.

Anonymous said...

Charlie,

As one who has 6 terms of experience as a constable, can you she's some light on the sorts of opportunities a constable has to get paid fees that he isn't actually entitled to? How much of their income is paid to them on the "honor" system?

Charlie said...

3:07PM The constable could make a false return on a piece of process ie; fill out a false return on a civil summons stating that he had served it when in fact he had not or on a warrant saying that he had executed it when he had not made any contact with the defendant. The Justice Court system has worked for years dependent upon the integrity of law enforcement and while a vast majority of law enforcement officers are honest there are always a few who try to manipulate the system. It is unfortunate that everyone is not honest, but that is the case in every profession and one bad apple, be it city, county or state law enforcement makes us all suspect.I hope this answers your question satisfactorily.


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