Dateline: November 29, 2001

New constable vows to abolish his office   

Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

The incoming constable of Donley County’s Precincts 1&2 says he intends to abolish the office that has been the center of controversy over the last year.

“Don’t expect me to buy a badge or wear a gun or answer a call because I’m not coming,” said soon-to-be Constable Gerald Mulanax.

Mulanax, who lives at Howardwick, was appointed to the position during a called session of the commissioners’ court Monday morning. He was the only applicant for the job, which became vacant in September when Constable Jimmy Swinney resigned.

“In the interest of stopping the flack and helping the people of Donley County, I agreed to do it,” Mulanax said. “It just seems to be an unneeded office.”

Mulanax said he has spoken with county officials and understands that there is no money for the office. He also intends to sign an affidavit swearing to that point.

The constable’s office had been vacant for more than 30 years before Swinney won a write-in campaign last November. He took office in January and sued the county in June alleging, among other things, that his $3,170 annual salary was unreasonable. Swinney then resigned his office in September after he failed to become a certified Texas peace officer as required by law.

The lawsuit is still pending, and both parties are awaiting a summary judgment decision from District Judge David McCoy.

The county had considered keeping the office vacant, but County Attorney Pro-tem Kaye Messer said it was possible that a holdover provision in the Texas Constitution would have kept Swinney in office until a successor took over. Since Swinney, by law, was no longer qualified to hold the office, it was questionable if the holdover provision applied to him, Messer said. Commissioners decided to fill the vacancy to avoid that situation.

A proposed amendment on next year’s ballot would give counties the option of declaring constable offices dormant under certain conditions, Messer said. If that amendment passes, Donley County could make the Constable of Precinct 1&2 a dormant office until the people of the county decide it is needed.

Mulanax said he gave a lot of thought to the constable’s office and had even considered running against Swinney when his term was up. Now he just wants to resolve the situation.

“Lets put this thing to bed and stop the controversy,” Mulanax said.

The new constable will be sworn in this Friday at 10 a.m. He will serve until the general election next year.

In other county business Monday, the commissioners’ court approved sending the county treasurer to a training session in Potter County next month and changed the county’s longevity pay policy to include part-time employees who had been employed for several years.

A bid for a new motorgrader for Precinct 3 was accepted from Asco for a total of $144,243 with a buy-back value of $100,323 after five years or 5,000 hours.

The county also approved a one-year lease for a dump truck from Bruckner’s Trucking.

Commissioners also accepted the resignation of Cooperative Extension secretary Lori Leffew effective November 30, 2001. County Judge Jack Hall says the process is underway to replace the county agents who also resigned recently.