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Marshall County Justice Court stands proud By SUE WATSON
Staff Writer  | Photo by Sue Watson
Teamwork
Public
servants working with Marshall County Justice Court include (from left)
Josh Clark (Mississippi Highway Patrol), Shirley Byers (county
prosecutor), Lequanda Isom, Kali Rowland, Judge Eugene Brown, Johnnie
Bagley, Mae Garrison, Monet Autry, Tony Davis (MHP) and Brankley Spight. |
There
are some changes and upgrades in technologies, but many of the facts
about Marshall County Justice Court are directly connected with the
people served and those providing the service. Justice
court clerk Monet Autry, appointed by the board of supervisors 10 years
ago, said she has seen many positive changes in the court’s operations. Facts:
In 10 years the court has served 6,000 clients a year or 60,000 clients
total; online payments of court assessments (fines/fees) has taken in
$77,000 in the last year and is convenient for the client; clients can
pay by credit card or monthly avoiding the necessity of lump sum
payments; $7 million in fees and fines has been collected in 10 years;
there is an increase in case load, particularly in the area of domestic
violence; the court will add new technology that will permit scanning
in protective orders to the attorney general’s office; electronic
citations will soon be sent from officers directly in the form of
electronic tickets. The court also works with attorneys online to assure they have their clients’ documents on time. Autry
earned a bachelor’s of business administration from the University of
Mississippi in August 1982. She was appointed court clerk on February
14, 2000, and received national certification as court administrator in
May 2004. She works with four deputy clerks, two constables, two judges
and one part-time employee provided by Experience Works - Brankley
Spight. Deputy clerk Mae Garrison came to the
court as deputy on April 1, 1987. She handles criminal cases such as
assaults and burglaries, takes affidavits and bonds, receives DUI
tickets and citations written by officers with fish and game and
handles fish and game licenses, and receives ABC citations and
affidavits from the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics. Garrison prepares court dockets for prosecutors and judges. Civil
court cases are handled by Johnnie Ree Bagley, who joined the staff
five years ago as deputy clerk. Domestic abuse protection orders make
up part of her case load. She also handles replevins (reposessions) and
evictions. In her five years as deputy, she said domestic abuse protection orders have escalated significantly. “Nine times out of 10 they turn into criminal cases,” she said. Bagley
prepares the civil court docket, types judges’ orders and finds safe
homes for abused women and children and the occasional cases of abused
men. “I was thinking I was doing mediocre stuff but the volume has changed tremendously since I arrived,” Bagley said. Busiest times are from March through October. Autry said she loves public service work. “It is like I was born to work with the public,” she said. She worked as a librarian for Rust College 14 years and for DHS three years before coming to justice court. What she loves about her work is that people who come to court are treated with dignity and respect. Bagley said she enjoys meeting and greeting others and getting a chance to minister to others. People move her deeply, she said. Garrison
said her joy is in working with the public and trying to help those who
come to criminal court. She also comforts victims. “I try to help them with their situation,” she said. Lequanda
Isom handles all the traffic citations written by the highway patrol
and by the county law officers. She processes about 500 tickets by hand
a month or about 90 cases each traffic court or about 200 cases per
month. With new technology coming to the system,
tickets will soon be sent by the officer electronically and individuals
will be able to pay their fines online and have their driver's licenses
reinstated, she said. That means the individual will not have to come
to justice court and miss days of work to pay their fine and recover
their license, she said. Isom joined the justice court staff January 1, 2005. The
latest arrival at justice court is Kali Rowland, who came to work as
deputy clerk August 2. Her prior employment has been with Smith/Whaley
Law Firm where she was filing clerk for a year and a half. Marshall
County prosecutor Shirley Byers said her duties are three-fold – to act
as prosecutor for justice court, to prosecute criminal cases and
misdemeanors, traffic cases and DUI cases. And she is prosecutor for
youth court. “All criminal cases, as well as
felony cases, come through here where the judges set bond,” she said.
“The county prosecutor is lead prosecuter for all criminal cases in the
county by statute.” |
