Photo: Gulflive.com
PASCAGOULA, Miss.–There’s nothing doing yet in the impending rumored resignation of Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd. News Mississippi got Tweets from the coast and heard some rumors Tuesday about a possible press conference that did not happen, where Sheriff Byrd would supposedly announce he would leave office.
Media on the coast, including WLOX, also heard the rumors and Sheriff Byrd told reporter Doug Walker that he had no immediate plans to step down. Later in the day word came from Byrd’s attorney that no decision regarding a possible resignation had been made.
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.
