Candidate Q&A

What is the top issue facing your township that you think you would have the power to address as constable?

The top issue I can actually touch from the constable’s chair is how evictions and civil paper get handled in Center Township — because that’s the office’s job, and right now families are losing everything with no dignity and no witness.

I’ve watched neighbors put out on the curb with kids, medicine, and the last photo of a parent sitting in a pile on the sidewalk. As constable I’d body-camera every eviction so there’s a record of how people and property were treated, offer a free first-come moving truck for Center Township residents facing eviction (valid driver’s license, driver responsible for safe operation), and line up partners to hold belongings free for up to a month so a hard day doesn’t turn into homelessness. Inquiries already route through my Superior Tactical office line at 317-805-1311. That’s not a promise I have to grow into — it’s the constable’s lane, and I’ll run it with transparency, accountability, and respect.

What role does a good constable play in township government?

A good constable is the township’s peace officer for the civil side of the courthouse — the one who serves the paper, keeps small-claims court safe, and carries out evictions and orders lawfully. That’s the statute. But the real role is bigger than the badge: you’re the face of township government on somebody’s worst day.

A good constable shows up on time, in uniform, calm, and by the book. Doesn’t work for the landlord, doesn’t work for the tenant — works for the court and the community. Keeps clean records, keeps deputies trained and accountable, and never uses the office as a personal weapon or a political favor. And a good constable tells the truth about what the office can and can’t do, so residents aren’t lied to about their rights.

One issue we hear consistently is that people aren’t properly served. What efforts would you make to serve legal paperwork to people?

Service is where public trust breaks down first, and it’s fixable with discipline, not gimmicks. Here’s what I’d do:

• Attempt service at different times of day and different days of the week — mornings, evenings, weekends — instead of one drive-by at 2 p.m. Working people are at work at 2 p.m.
• Body-camera every attempt so there’s a time-stamped, GPS-tagged record of the door, the knock, and the result. No more “sewer service” — if we tried, we could prove it; if we didn’t, we wouldn’t lie about it.
• Multilingual door cards in English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole with a callback number and QR code so a resident who missed the knock can arrange to accept service instead of getting defaulted.
• Skip-tracing basics before we quit — cross-check the last known address against voter file, utility, and public records so we’re serving the right person at the right door.
• A published service logs to the courts, and the public can audit, showing attempt counts, times, and outcomes by case, with personal identifiers protected.

The standard is simple: if we serve you, you’ll know. If we can’t find you, the record will show honest work — not a form checked in a parking lot.

How would you vet deputy constables?