Anyone familiar with the Pine Belt, in particular the Free State of Jones understands all Circuit Court roads lead to Judge Billy Joe Landrum as the one man band judicial district in Jones County creates a Judgeship with mucho power inherent to the office. Late last month State Auditor Stacey Pickering issued a $313,726.73 civil demand to Judge Landrum for helping himself to personal fuel, vehicles and salaries paid from the Community Services Program to employees that were not in any way affiliated with it. The Community Services Programs is funded by fines paid by convicts that is supposed to fund a diversion program that offered alternatives to jail. This should all sound familiar to you folks in St Slammany that read Slabbed.
Notably, the civil demand does not include any Billy Walker type discount and we have a family feud undercurrent as Auditor Pickering also hails from the Free State of Jones, something his press release on the Landrum demand overemphasized IMHO. Given that Judge Landrum amazingly let the local paper take his picture showing off the CSP paid equipment he was charitably storing at his house so the taxpayers would not be burdened it is no surprise that more recently the DA in the Free State of Jones decided he needed to look into the matter.
Of course Judge Landrum’s timing could not be better as two days before the civil demand was released to the public Landrum announced his intent to seek an 8th term on the Circuit Court. More recently the Judge was issuing press releases to the local media declaring that Auditor Pickering was attempting to interfere with the upcoming election writing that, “Pickering has no business making false allegations about me in an attempt to influence a Jones County judicial election.”
Looks to me from down here on the coast that Billy Joe Landrum may have served one term as Circuit Court Judge too many already. Given the length of time it took to bring former Southhaven Mayor turned perpetrator Greg Davis to trial, the saga of Billy Joe Landrum is likely to be with us for a while.