The Arkansas Constables Association
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An Arkansas Constable
A Constable is a short, tall, thin, fat person, usually male, that has a conscience, a dislike for crime and a desire to provide a service to his community.
The Constable is one of the oldest forms of law enforcement, dating back to the Roman Empire, possibly earlier.
As most everyone knows, our government consists of three branches, the executive, legislative and the judicial. Each of these branches are separate and individual and each has its responsibility to the people of the county.
A Constable in Arkansas is, by the State Constitution, an executive officer of the county in which he has been elected. Other executive officers are the State Treasurer, the Secretary of State, the County Sheriff, the County Coroner and all State Militia Officers.
The Constable has the broad and primary responsibility of seeing that the laws of the County, State and Country are faithfully executed.
The Constable is elected, by the voters of the township in which he or she lives, for a two-year term. He or she has a primary responsibility to all of the residents of the township and the county for peace keeping and all of the functions required to ensure that this comes about
Even though a Constable is by law required to perform many and sundry duties and is liable, under the same law, for the failure to perform these duties, they receive little or no pay, no monies for expenses and are required to provide their own uniforms, equipment and transportation. This is neither morally nor legally acceptable but it is the way of things at this particular time.
Each Township within the State is authorized, by the Constitution, a Constable. There are approximately 1,400 townships and at this time only about 700 Constables. It is believed that this shortage is because of a lack of understanding on the part of the electorate and the various county governments as to the benefits of law enforcement at the grass roots level.