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Texas Counties Deliver – learn how county government serves you
County Constable

  • Constable James C. Rogers

    1700 Wilbarger
    Vernon, TX  76384

    Phone:  (940) 553-2326
    Fax:      (940) 553-2328
  • Constable Paul Miller

    1700 Wilbarger
    Vernon, TX  76384

    Phone:  (940) 553-2326

An excerpt from the Texas State Historical Association:

The office of constable dates back at least to 1066 and the Norman Conquest of England. William the Conqueror appointed constables to supervise individual communities, or boroughs. A constable's duties varied considerably in different circumstances and times. They were often similar to those of a sheriff, who supervised a shire (the equivalent of a county). Over time, however, as sheriffs were given increasing administrative duties, constables assumed primary responsibility for local law enforcement. The office of constable had been transplanted to the British colonies in North America by the mid-seventeenth century, and with it continued the divergence between constable and sheriff. In America as in England, the main qualification for the office of sheriff was "that he be of sufficient estate." This limited the choices for sheriff to a relatively small and elite group of planters in each county. As a result, few sheriffs had either the ability or desire to serve warrants or bring offenders to justice. Consequently, the constable and justice of the peace were about the only law and order most rural American settlers ever saw.