Already mainstays as Warren County constables, John Henry Heggins and Glenn McKay are also becoming veterans of top leadership posts in the state constables association.

Since 1984, when both were 21 years old, Heggins has served as constable of the Southern District and McKay of the Northern District. Earlier this month both were re-elected as officers of the Mississippi Constables Association, McKay to his third consecutive one-year term as president and Heggins to his fourth as secretary/treasurer.

As president, McKay also serves on the 11-member board that sets standards and oversees training for law-enforcement officers statewide.

Constables are elected to their posts and are trained the same as all other law-enforcement officers.

They are primarily responsible for serving court papers but also at their discretion help law-enforcement officers of other agencies when appropriate.

In Warren County, one is elected from each of the three Justice Court districts and serves papers primarily in that district. The Central District constable is Rudolph Walker, who won a special election to the post in 2002 and is also a veteran Vicksburg police officer.

Both said they have built strong working relationships with many of their constituents during their 22 years in the office, and having those relationships helps them get their work done faster.

“After 22 years, I can call ahead and have three people waiting for me at LeTourneau,” Heggins said of the large oil-rig-building operation located in his district.

Constables’ pay across Mississippi is fee-based according to the volume of papers they serve, tickets they write and people they arrest who end up paying fines.

McKay said that during a typical week they spend about 16 to 24 hours a week in-uniform, serving papers. About 65 percent of the papers they serve involve real-estate matters, McKay said. Many of the rest are misdemeanor criminal warrants and papers in civil cases, often involving domestic disputes, he added.

With all their involvement in real estate matters, some of their most frequent contacts are managers of apartment complexes.

“I’ve got six on speed-dial,” Heggins said of property-managers’ phone numbers.

A key to performing the job, however, is to remain flexible since a constable’s combination of capabilities and relatively wide latitude for service can result in his becoming involved in lengthy efforts, such as attempts to rescue people in danger.

“Sometimes it’s 20 hours a day,” McKay said.

Both are also business owners, McKay of a paint contractor and Heggins of a service that leases portable buildings and other equipment and supplies. In their dual roles the two will often end up changing into and out of uniform several times a day, Heggins said.

Both drive cars with markings and equipment similar to each other’s. Each owns his constable car and about 90 percent of the equipment on it since counties are limited by law in the equipment they can provide constables, McKay said.

Constables also sometimes serve chancery court papers, McKay said. In such cases they are hired directly by attorneys, sometimes from out-of-state, he added.

The state association has 197 members and held its annual meeting this year in Natchez. Among those the group heard from was Attorney General Jim Hood, who discussed changes in the law since last year and prospective changes that could affect constables, McKay said.

Constables attend four training sessions a year, receiving instruction on topics such as process-serving, self-defense tactics and tactical driving, McKay said.