CLEVELAND, Tenn. – A Bradley County constable is accusing the county sheriff of discriminating against constables for political reasons.
The county sheriff’s office denies it.
District 6 Constable Dewayne Hicks said deputy sheriffs are ignoring him and telling him constables have no law enforcement powers.
“These guys [constables] have the same authority as a sheriff,” Hicks said Tuesday. “Basically, it’s free law enforcement.”
Constables are constitutional elected officers who serve court papers and collect fees based on the number of papers they serve. But Hicks said the same oath of office he has taken every four years since being elected in 1998 says he has the power to make arrests, too.
Hicks also said constables are being shunned if they did not support Sheriff Jim Ruth in the August county election.
“They treat you like you’ve got the plague,” Hicks said of sheriff’s deputies.
“It’s a political issue. That’s all it is. Jim tried hard to beat me in the elections,” he said.
Bob Gault, spokesman for the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office, said the department deals with constables the same way it always has.
“Nothing has changed,” he said.
Courts issue papers to the sheriff’s department, and the department is obligated to serve them, he said.
“Nothing we are doing is politically motivated,” Gault said.
In a letter that Hicks received from County Attorney Joseph Byrd, the lawyer writes that constables “have law enforcement authority” under state law.
According to the Tennessee Constables Association website, constables have law enforcement powers and can carry firearms if they have completed required firearms training.
Hicks noted that former sheriffs Dan Gilley and Tim Gobble issued identification cards to constables that included “Bradley County Sheriff’s Department” in the wording. Cards issued by Ruth only say “constable.”
The department changed the cards, Gault said, “because constables are not employees of the sheriff’s department but are elected officials.”
The new cards, he said, reflect the proper title.