Board appoints McCants sheriff
Andy McCants can now remove the word “acting” from his title after the Board of Supervisors appointed him Webster County sheriff Monday.
His appointment follows last week’s guilty plea by predecessor Tim Mitchell to four felony charges and his resignation from office. McCants, who has been acting sheriff since January, will complete the remaining 6½ months of Mitchell’s second term.
Mitchell, 54, pleaded guilty June 12 to two counts of embezzlement by a public official and two counts of trafficking in stolen firearms. Circuit Judge Joseph Loper Jr., who ordered him to resign immediately as a condition of accepting his pleas of guilty, withheld sentencing until July 30. Mitchell was already out on bond and remains on house arrest until then.
He appeared before Loper at the Choctaw County Courthouse in Ackerman, where Webster County has been holding court since the courthouse burned in 2013. Mitchell had been scheduled for trial next Monday. He and attorney Austin Vollor initially appeared before the judge last Wednesday morning asking for a continuance but Loper denied the request, according to broadcast news reports. He pleaded guilty after lunch.
District Attorney Doug Evans recommended Mitchell serve 15 total in prison. Specifically, Evans recommended that on Count 1 (embezzlement by a public official), Mitchell be sentenced to serve 20 years with the Mississippi Department of Corrections, with five years of that suspended for five years. Evans recommended that he serve 15 years each for the remaining three counts to run concurrently, or at the same time.
The remainder of the charges in the 10-count felony indictment were dismissed upon recommendation of the state as part of the plea deal: attempted sexual activity between sheriff and inmate, intimidating a witness, attempted tampering with physical evidence, furnishing contraband to an inmate, tampering with a witness and sale, possession or use of a controlled substance in a jail facility.
Mitchell pleaded guilty to embezzling a Taurus .38-caliber revolver, Smith & Wesson .40-caliber handgun, .45-caliber handgun and a Ruger 9mm-caliber handgun between Oct. 1 and Oct. 31, 2017, and trafficking those stolen firearms between Oct. 1-31 of 2018.
Investigators have previously said he ordered a deputy to remove those guns from his department’s evidence locker and gave one to an inmate. They said when Mitchell was arrested in December that his activities first were noticed when he sought to illegally buy pills from an informant, according to The Associated Press.
2nd resignation,
new sheriff
When Loper ordered Mitchell to resign, the judge told him he had “drained taxpayers” and not to withdraw his resignation this time. He was referring to the fact that Mitchell had first tendered his resignation in November because of “declining health issues” to take effect Jan. 2. However, following his arrest in December, he withdrew his resignation and retained his office while he was on house arrest.
The Board of Supervisors’ first order of business during a recessed meeting Monday was to accept his second letter of resignation, which simply reads, “I, Tim Mitchell, resign from my position as Webster Co. Sheriff as of 6/12/19.”
The board then went into executive session with McCants to discuss personnel. After returning to open session about 15 minutes later, supervisors voted to appoint him as sheriff of Webster County effective immediately upon his taking the oath of office.
That followed soon after, with Chancery Clerk Russ Turner delivering the oath to him in the boardroom (Justice Court courtroom) and supervisors congratulating him.
McCants had been serving as sheriff pro tempore, or acting sheriff, since Jan. 2 upon his appointment by the 5th District Circuit Court. He had been serving as chief deputy for two weeks prior and before that was an investigator with the Sheriff’s Department.
McCants will serve until the first Monday in January, when the new sheriff elected in November takes office. McCants is not among the five candidates for the position.
County taking
legal action
When McCants was appointed acting sheriff, the Circuit Court judges directed that he be paid the full salary and benefits of sheriff as required by state law.
Because Mitchell could not be removed from office until convicted of a felony, he also continued to draw his annual salary, which is $75,000. As a result, the county has been paying a double sheriff’s salary for 5½ months. However, the judges said the county could sue a bond company to recoup Mitchell’s pay upon conviction.
Supervisors took their first step toward doing so Monday, when they instructed board attorney Buchanan Meek Jr. to proceed immediately to find counsel to represent the county in regard to recovering against the sheriff’s bond for the salary paid to the ex-sheriff while the sheriff pro tempore was also being paid. Based upon salary and benefits of about $6,300 a month, that total amount would be around $34,650.
The board recessed until 8:30 a.m. Friday to hear an update from Meek on his findings.
Editor’s Note: See related article on guilty pleas by former deputy.
