Staff Editorial

Two and a half months have passed since the Pike County Commission met with Pike County’s legislative delegation.

On January 22, county commissioners met with State Rep. Alan Boothe, D-Troy, and State Sen. Wendell Mitchell, D-Luverne, to discuss some of the things they wanted to accomplish during the regular legislative session.

One of the things discussed in that meeting was abolishing constables.

And, on Monday, April 9, commissioners unanimously voted to put the issue to a vote by the people.

We applaud the commission for taking this action, but wonder why it took so long to do so.

The legislative session will come to a close on May 21, which means the legislative delegation has little opportunity to get the issue passed by lawmakers.

In order for Boothe to introduce the legislation, it must be, first, advertised four weeks, meaning he will have only a matter of days to introduce the local bill.

If time runs out, Boothe said he will attempt to introduce it in the summer special session (to deal with reapportionment/redistricting).

But, he shouldn’t have to.

The Pike County Commission delayed action on an issue it deemed important enough to have introduced, but thought little of the time it takes to get it advertised, introduced and passed. Matters of legislative interest have been on the commission’s agenda since that first meeting and were skipped over each time until Monday night.

If the commissioners feel the position of constables should be eliminated in Pike County and they are not needed, as Commissioner Larry Penn has stated, then they should have thought enough to take action earlier in the session to allow for plenty of time for its passage.

 

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