Vicksburg police officer Mario Grady was sworn-in Wednesday as Central District constable, filling the unexpired term of Troy Kimble, who resigned after being appointed assistant police chief for Clarksdale.

An investigator with the Vicksburg Police Department, Grady was appointed by the Warren County Board of Supervisors to fill Kimble’s unexpired term. Kimble, a former lieutenant in investigations with the police department, was appointed assistant police chief for Clarksdale Oct. 10, following Sandra Williams, Vicksburg’s chief of investigations, who was named Clarksdale chief in September.

Constables serve court papers, stand in as court bailiffs and have law enforcement authority. The Central District covers most of the city and a portion of the county.

Grady was one of four people to apply for the position and be interviewed by the Board of Supervisors. He will serve the remaining two years of Kimble’s term. The next election is 2019.

He was sworn in by Chancery Clerk Donna Hardy as his 4-year-old daughter Addisyn held the Bible.

“I’m blessed to be able to get it,” he said of the appointment. “I ran for the position in 2015.”

“He follows a rich legacy our constables had always followed,” Hardy said. “They always sought leadership roles in their state association. All three of our constables have held positions; these constables in Warren County have held positions in their association for years.”

A 10-year law enforcement veteran, he began his career as a campus police officer at Hinds Community College in Raymond. He has served as a Warren County sheriff’s deputy, and an undercover agent with the North Central Narcotics Task Force, which was later disbanded for lack of funding.

He was an officer with the Clinton Police Department before returning to Vicksburg and joining the police department two years ago.