Taxpayers Will Continue to Pay Constable Jackson

TYLER — Smith County taxpayers will still be left paying the salary of a constable while he sits in a federal prison in Seagoville. KETK reports Precinct 1 Constable Henry Jackson will begin his six-month sentence sometime between now and Friday. Jackson pleaded guilty in May to four counts of willfully failing to file federal income tax returns from 2010 to 2013. He will also have to pay restitution at just more than $154,000. But Jackson’s an elected official, and the county government has no authority to remove him from office. Smith County Judge Nathaniel Moran sent Jackson a two-page letter asking him to resign. Moran says he made the request privately and face-to-face several weeks ago. He said he “did so privately in an effort to avoid embarrassing the constable publicly.” The constable continues to decline the request.