SAN ANTONIO — The position for Bexar County Precinct 2 Constable is officially open and up for grabs.
- Precinct 2 Constable position open
- Two applications have been turned in
- Duties are similar to the duties of a sheriff’s office
This comes after constable Michelle Barrientes Vela violated the state's resign-to-run law earlier this week when she announced her intentions to run for Sheriff.
So far two people have sent in an application. When we went in to check the Precinct 2 office, we were told Barrientes Vela was not there, but had come in for the morning meeting and that the office was running as usual.
Duties of a constable are very similar to the sheriff's office and constables serve the same jurisdiction around the county. Whoever is appointed to Precinct 2 will also earn nearly $100,000 salary.
"I've had both the county judge and the different commissioners call us to have services when sheriff services were unavailable. We get calls from the San Antonio Police Department as well," he said.
Vojvodich served in the U.S. Army and Air Force, and spent 14 years with the sheriff's office. He says a background in law enforcement is a major plus, because constables handle a lot of civil cases, evictions, and property disputes.
"They should have a background in civil process because that's different than many other peace officers. They usually deal criminal law. We deal with criminal law as well as civil law. So it's important to be able to do both of those and you have to be able to lead and manage people," he said.
Constables are often closer to the neighborhoods than any other agencies and can directly respond to citizens.
"The people who should actually have the final say in what constables do, is going to be the taxpayer who foots the bill. I'll argue that with county commissioners any day of the week and any constable that says they run their office. We run it as stewards for the citizens we serve, and that's what we do every day," he said.