The Decatur Board of Aldermen approved a request from Police Chief Joedy Pennington Tuesday to add the Decatur Court Clerk Pam Joyner to the police department’s employee roll.
After the board approved a resolution from the Mississippi Municipal League allowing the town to collect unpaid fines from residents’ tax returns, Pennington explained implementing the fine collection would give Joyner access to NCIC, the software used by the police to check for active warrants.
“I would like to hire the court clerk as an administrative officer with the police department,” he said. “The reason for that is she has everything in her computer about everything everybody owes the city, and you have to have access to NCIC for some of the information.”
Pennington said having Joyner run warrant checks would mean his officers wouldn’t need to stop by the courthouse every day to check warrants in the computer, freeing up time they could be out in the community.
The catch, he said, was Mississippi law prohibits people from accessing NCIC unless they are employed by a law enforcement agency. Adding Joyner to the list, he said, would give her that access.
“You have to be an employee of a police department or law enforcement agency to access NCIC,” he said.
However, Pennington added, Joyner would not be authorized to carry a gun.
The Board of Aldermen agreed Joyner having the ability to check warrants would be an asset for the police department and approved Pennington’s request. Town Attorney Mitch Thomas said he would check the applicable statutes to make sure the town implements the change properly.
