Seven constables were sworn in Friday at the Dallas County Courthouse, more than doubling the number of constables in the county. Lola Sewell, Jasper Bowie, Lee Green Jr., Charles Mills, Lee Anthony Moore Sr., Christopher C. Peterson and Bert. A. Scott were all sworn in and will officially take office in January.

At one time, constables were common throughout all of Alabama’s 67 counties, but now only about 30 counties have them.

According to the Code of Alabama, the duties of a constable are “to attend circuit court of the county when summoned by the sheriff, to execute to return all summons, executions and other processes directed to him by any lawful authority, to pay over moneys collected by virtue of his office to the person entitled thereto and to perform such other duties as are or may be required of him by law.”

Basically, constables have the authority to make arrests and to enforce the traffic and criminal codes of the state of Alabama.

We appreciate the seven people who took on this position Friday. After all, being a constable isn’t a paid position, so not just anybody would take on that title.

It’s no secret that Selma has a high crime rate, so adding any type of law enforcement officer, can only help that situation.  Constables aren’t a replacement for a police officer and they certainly don’t have the same type of responsibility, but just having more people upholding the law in Selma  is a good thing.

We appreciate that those seven were willing to take on this position and the responsibility that comes along with the title of constable.