PASCAGOULA, Miss.–Sheriff Mike Byrd is not throwing in the towel. His attorney, Joe Sam Owen, told media Wednesday that Byrd will stay sheriff for now, despite dozens of rumors that he was ready to give up the job amid a slew of controversy.
Tuesday media outlets from all over south Mississippi and even Alabama were perched outside Byrd’s office, ready for a press conference that never happened.
There were also rumors that the sheriff had packed up his office. He did not show up for work for a few days, perhaps helping fuel the rumor fire.
Byrd has come under fire lately, despite three previous terms that were relatively clean.
Byrd and his department are now the targets of a lawsuit by James Hagan, a former Ocean Springs alderman arrested on child pornography and child molestation charges in 2011. Those charges were ultimately thrown out, but Hagan has said the damage was irreparable to a great degree.
There are also some 18 other child pornography cases brought by Sheriff Byrd, widely publicized, then found by the courts to have no merit.
There’a also the Narcotics Task Force incident from 2012 where one officer shot another in the office. Each city that was a part of the joint task force pulled out following the incident. Byrd was not remiss in expressing his anger.
The Task Force also took heat for ultimately losing a prominent case against a well-known local doctor.
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