Prescott Constable Ready for ‘Beautiful Day’ of Evictions and Seizing Property

Prescott Constable Ron Williams loves kicking families out of their homes and confiscating personal property in the name of government, that’s clear.

But does he need to sound so damned happy about it?

“Good morning, Prescott!! It’s a beautiful day for evictions, asset seizures, and warrants,” the Yavapai County elected official

Constables, if you didn’t know, are elected to four-year terms in Arizona and generally work with justices of the peace in their district to do the things Williams mentioned, plus serve orders of protection, deal with suicidal people, help domestic abuse victims, and perform other duties. Many of their duties are inherently unpleasant, it should go without saying. But not for Williams, it seems.

Putting this sort of schadenfreude in a public forum isn’t appreciated by all members of the public, though. Facebook user Adam Weigele took umbrage with Williams’ affirmation:

“Seriously?” Weigele responded to Williams. “This is crass and unbecoming of a professional organization, who’s [sic] job it is to honorably discharge duties … where is the honor in bragging about stealing people’s belongings, kicking them out of their homes and arresting them? I’m shocked and appalled.”

Of course, in politically conservative Yavapai County, home to County Attorney Sheila Polk, Weigele’s criticism got some pushback itself:

“You must be on their list…,” Facebook user Scott Porter Jr. told Weigele.

A recent joke about stalking posted by Williams brought a couple of mildly critical comments, too.

“Some constable humor for this Halloween month…” Williams wrote on October 7, posting a meme that featured Michael Myers, the killer from the Halloween movies, along with text that read, “Stalking is when two people go for a long, romantic walk together, but only one of them knows about it.”

To be fair, Williams is a frequent Facebook user and most of his posts don’t contain anything controversial. Besides posting about the training classes he’s completed or his service as president of the Arizona Constables Association, he often posts short stories on the history of Prescott and constables in the area.

While these stories can be fun to read, don’t expect a nod to political correctness from the constable.

“At the command of the officer to throw up his hands the Mexican showed fight,” says a blurb from a September 9, 1900, Tombstone Epitaph newspaper that Williams posted. “Graham fired and the Mexican was wounded through the shoulder, whereupon he surrendered.”

Before he took the job of constable in 2014, Williams felt freer with his language.

“F*ck Los Angeles and their boycott by a bankrupt gutter city,” he posted in 2011, following numerous religious postings.

Williams – who didn’t return a call for this article – ran unopposed for a second four-year term this year, clinching the job in August’s primary. So he’ll have many more beautiful days ahead.

(UPDATE: Williams later wrote a post noting that he had “upset several people,” adding “I apologize if it upset you…It was also my humble opinion that this was a beautiful day to be out and about conducting my statutory duties. That in no way implied that I ‘relish’ or am bragging about those who are impacted by them. “)