Bolivar County Court Judge Gwendolyn Thomas signed an order transferring all cases to the Bolivar County Justice Court.
As the result of a three year investigation conducted by the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, 84 warrants were issued and arrests made with the assistance of several local and state law enforcement agencies. Citizens in Bolivar, Coahoma, Sunflower and Washington counties were issued warrants and arrested.
According to the order signed by Thomas, justice county court will have “concurrent jurisdiction” over the matter.
“In an effort to promote judicial economy and to expedite the proceedings currently docketed in this court, the above referenced matter is hereby transferred to the Justice Court to be docketed and heard before that court,” according to the transfer order.
The order was signed on Aug. 20.
Bolivar County Circuit Clerk Marilyn Kelly said she is currently working on transferring all the dockets. Kelly said no cases are being heard at this time.
In a previous interview MDWFP Communications Director Jim Walker said, "Of course, they (the cases) are in various legal jurisdictions now. We'll be right there when they go to court."
The issuance of warrants and arrests was the culmination of three years’ worth of investigations that began when MDWFP officers received an anonymous tip about game violations.
Though the investigation originated with MDWFP, multiple other state agencies were brought in to hand out warrants.
“It started out as an anonymous tip on a wildlife violation and dominoed into the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics being called in for drugs and the Mississippi Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms and Tobacco being called in for guns,” said Walker, in a previous interview.
Some of the citizens arrested from Bolivar County attended one of the Bolivar County Board of Supervisors meeting. They brought Jethro Henderson, a representative from the NAACP with them.
When Henderson spoke to the board, he said that the NAACP felt as though those arrested had been targeted toward particular citizens because of their race.
“Lawbreakers come in all races, in all genders and in all ages,” said Walker, when asked about the matter. “This case is no different.
“We got an anonymous tip on a wildlife violation and as perpetrators began to communicate and coordinate their efforts, it dominoed to drugs and guns,” he continued. “We had good, solid cases on all of them.
“We've gotten so many undercover investigations — sometimes it's a mix of races, sometimes it's a majority of one,” Walker explained. “We don't selectively enforce the law, we go after lawbreakers.”