The Kentuckian

Run for constable

Geoff Sebesta interviewed by the editor

A constable serving papers and educating.

constable (n.) c. 1300 "justice of the peace," from Old French conestable (12c.), principal officer of the Frankish king's household. Meaning "an officer chosen to serve minor legal process" is from c. 1600. Source:etymonline.com

What are a Kentucky constable's responsibilities, powers, pay, term, and means of election?

The answer is so far off from what you expect that it can be hard to grasp. The constable is an extremely weird office.

The constable does not have any responsibilities.

The constable's only power is that they are "peace officers," with all the legal powers that entails. This is the same as a sheriff.

The constable does not get paid by the government. At all.

They are elected every four years to four year terms, like all non-legislative elected officials in Kentucky.

The constable is essentially a citizen-elected police officer. They do not get paid for the position, but having the legal powers of a police officer is of itself extremely profitable. Constables for untold generations have used this power for profit. They make money by working for their best-paying customers, who are:

  1. Lawyers with legal papers to serve.
  2. Landlords who need tenants evicted.
  3. People who want security officers who can arrest people.

Because of the inherent demand for these tasks and the serious shortage of people legally capable of carrying them out, this creates a stable system that is hallowed by custom but not by law. There is nothing that says a constable has to serve legal papers or carry out evictions, that's just the system that has evolved.

Anyone who is elected to the office of constable will find the office a blank slate and may do what they want with it. One hopes that no one the Kentucky Party helps elect would choose to "play cop." Many elected to the office do. It would be a serious misuse of the position to start a venue security company. There are those in office right now who do exactly that.

What could a tenant's union do with the office? I imagine the constable could educate tenants facing eviction about their rights, the process, and resources to help them stay in their home?

For a tenant's union, the two areas of most interest are service of process and evictions.

Service of process is morally unambiguous and acceptable. The constable simply performs a necessary function of the court in a professional manner. I don't know of anyone who objects to the legal service of papers on anything but the most anarchistic grounds.

Evictions can either happen professionally, in a way that helps shield people being evicted from the worst consequences of sudden homelessness, or can be carried out by power-tripping jerks who honestly couldn't care less. It's a heavy position, it requires heavy choices. Evictions literally make people homeless; when the constable arrives, that person has a place to live, and when the constable leaves, they do not. The constable is therefore the last official that people interact with before suddenly becoming homeless. It's a big deal.

The constable is really in a serious position of power and responsibility. This isn't an abstract ethical exercise, this is as real as it gets -- the constable, as the contracted and necessary professional, can negotiate for their services. They can make access to services for the person being evicted a necessary part of their contract with the landlord.

There are more evictions than one constable could ever do, and a lot of them will always be done by the sheriff and the other constables. If there are not enough legal professionals to carry out the legal evictions, then landlords start moving to illegal methods of eviction, which is far worse.

There is a de facto marketplace. A tenant's union constable could charge more and promise more. They'll quickly find themselves working with the more ethical landlords, then the landlords who want to appear more ethical, then all the landlords start acting more ethical. That's the way it's supposed to work, and in Fayette County, when we put Welker in office as the constable, that's what happened.

A citizen elected police officer can be a positive thing for their community. You don't have to arrest someone or wave a gun around to be a good constable.

Some people are talking about trying to abolish the office of constable. What do you say?

Abolishing the position is a legislative decision, not a constable's decision. It would take a constitutional amendment or constitutional convention, neither of which are likely. Reform of the constable's office is so far down the list of priorities it's insignificant.

Taking the job and just refusing to do it accomplishes little as a protest but certainly wastes an opportunity to help homeless and potentially soon-to-be homeless people.

Legislative attempts to reform the position seem to focus on stopping constables from "playing cop," putting police lights on their cars or taking it on themselves to do traffic stops.

Don't sheriffs do the evictions in rural counties?

No. Constables and sheriffs share the evictions. In Fayette County, more than in smaller counties, the sheriff may resent the constable if he feels the constable's taking his business. But what the sheriff's doing isn't supposed to be a business.

To make sure constable services we want to provide don't overlap with sheriff services, charge more. Make it clear constables a tenant's union puts in office want higher fees to provide more services. If you want a cheap crappy eviction, go to the sheriff. If you want a decent, humane eviction, go to one of our constables.

Conflict between the sheriff and constable isn't an issue in Madison County, so far as I know from talking to the local constables. I don't see problems in Clark or Montgomery either. If anybody got into office and found themselves with a situation they felt like they couldn't handle, just stop doing evictions entirely, or suspend them until the situation became clearer, or talk to the sheriff directly and come to an agreement.

The vast majority of sheriffs are probably just going to be relieved that we don't want to put flashing the red lights on the roofs of our SUVs and try our hand at pulling over drunk drivers. So long as we don't touch traffic tickets, which is their real meat and potatoes in rural counties, we're barely a blip on their radar.

Deterring illegal evictions and educating people on their rights can be done in any county. However, the main place we should concentrate on is Madison County. Bowling Green and Owensboro are too big and too far away for us to realistically find a candidate, Clark and Montgomery are small. If we could find people in Northern Kentucky or Frankfort, that'd be fantastic. But at the moment I think we should concentrate on finding at least one person in Madison County who's willing to run hard.

Who should run?

Any constable who uses this job to lord it over people like a pretend police officer needs a new job. In 2026, the Kentucky Party should replace Kentucky's worst constables with decent, accountable people.

Tenants unions are obvious sources for candidates. Their members already understand and care about tenants, including tenants facing eviction. They're organized, so have leverage to keep their constables honest. Their members can campaign to get their candidate into the office.

Anybody interested in running, email the Kentucky Party. We'll help finance your campaign, and can manage it or educate your campaign manager. You're also invited to get to know us and elect our new Executive Committee at our 2025 Statewide Convention, May 31 in Berea from 9:30 AM to 4 PM at First Christian Church.

This article, like all original content in The Kentuckian, is released into the public domain. The Kentuckian is an independent publication. It doesn't represent the opinion of the Kentucky Party or any of its committees.