(2/28/03)Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace has filed for four more years and may face a former constable candidate who faces a felony indictment.

County and state elections are set for this fall, with party primaries Aug. 5 and a general election Nov. 4. The deadline for candidates in all races to file qualifying papers is 5 p.m. Saturday. After those papers are turned in, signatures and other information is verified before party officials or election commissioners certify candidates for ballot listing.

Pace, 44, who was appointed interim sheriff in 1996 and has won two elections since then is running as an independent. He has served 22 years with the department.

Also filing was David Atwood II, 19, who is on leave from college and ran unsuccessfully for Central District constable last year. He is running as a Democrat.

Arrested in March on the campus of Jones County Community College, where he was a student, Atwood faces an indictment in that county accusing him of possessing three firearms on a school campus. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to five years in prison on each charge.

The criminal case was scheduled to go to trial this week, but it was postponed until late July or early August, Jones County District Attorney C. Grant Hedgepeth said.

“His attorney asked for additional time,” Hedgepeth said, adding that the court’s next criminal term in Ellisville begins July 28. Atwood’s attorney, Mike Rushing of Madison, was not available.

Under state law, no person convicted of a felony may serve in elective office. Certification by the Mississippi Law Enforcement Training Academy is also required within a year of election.

Atwood made a runoff election in a five-candidate field in last November’s special constable’s election. He was defeated by Rudolph Walker, who received nearly 80 percent of the vote.

Earlier this month, a Jackson newspaper quoted Vicksburg Police Chief Tommy Moffett as saying a confiscated Ku Klux Klan robe taken from Atwood is being held pending an investigation. In the same story, Atwood said he was not a Klan member or supporter and that he was a longtime member of the American Civil Liberties Union.

In the race for supervisor in District 1, WQBC radio-station manager Jerry Rushing, 43, filed as a Republican. That set up a party primary with one-term incumbent David McDonald, 53, who had filed earlier. Others in the race are Billy Boone, 53, and Michael Terry, 56, both of whom are independents and advance to the general election.

Also filing as a Democratic candidate for Circuit Clerk was Gil Culkin, 49, a former District Attorney’s Office investigator who works at Ameristar Casino’s slot department. Culkin’s father, George Culkin, served several terms as Warren County circuit clerk before retiring, Gil Culkin also sought the post in 1987. Culkin’s filing sets up a Democratic primary with Shelly Ashley-Palmertree, 33, daughter of the incumbent Larry Ashley who is not seeking a new term. Also in the race are independents Mike Caruthers, 47, Bertha Conner, 55, and Republican Trey Miller, 36.

Joseph G. Strickland, 55, became the first candidate to file for the elected post of county surveyor since he left the post about 15 years ago, he said. Strickland is a professional land surveyor with Strickland Surveying and Mapping Inc. He said he resigned from the job about 15 years ago, adding that he also made an unsuccessful run for county supervisor around that time.

All state legislative positions are also up for election this fall. In other filings reported by the Democratic Party, Fayette residents Arnold E. Clark and Walter Huston filed to challenge previously filed incumbent Chuck Middleton, 43, of Port Gibson, who is also a Democrat, for the District 85 House of Representatives seat. Neither challenger could be reached.

Others who have filed for candidacy for Warren County and legislative posts are:

Chancery clerk: Dot McGee, 65, Democrat.

Central District constable: Rudolph Walker, 49, Democrat.

Northern District constable: Eddie Hoover, 38, independent; Glenn McKay, 40, Democrat.

Southern District constable: John Henry Heggins, 40, Democrat; Victor Worrell, 41, independent.

Coroner: John Thomason, 44, independent.

Central District justice court judge: Richard Bradford, 59, Democrat.

Northern District justice court judge: W.B. Duggins, 75, independent; Bill Jeffers, 35, independent; Greg Kurtz, 36, independent; Eddie Woods, 38, Republican.

Southern District justice court judge: Joe Crevitt, 65, Democrat; John Hunter, 62, Democrat.

County Prosecutor: Robert C. Arledge, 45, independent; Richard Johnson, 49, independent.

District 2 supervisor: Michael Mayfield, 44, Democrat.

District 3 supervisor: Betty Jackson, 61, independent; Charles Selmon, 43, Democrat.

District 4 supervisor: Carl Flanders, 33, independent; Reginald King, 56, independent; Bill Lauderdale, 55, independent.

District 5 supervisor: Richard George, 53, independent; Joe Wooley, 60, independent.

Tax assessor: Richard Holland, 47, Democrat.

Tax collector: Patricia Simrall, 56, Democrat.

Circuit Court District 9 District Attorney: Gil Martin, 58, independent; Richard Smith, 44, independent.

District 54 representative: Chester Masterson, 69, Republican; Alex Monsour, 40, Republican.

District 55 representative: George Flaggs, 49, Democrat.

District 56 representative: Jep Barbour, 41, Republican.

District 23 senator: Mike Chaney, 59, Republican.

District 36 senator: E. Vincent Davis, 39, Democrat; Lynn Posey, Democrat.