Hopkins County Sheriff Frank Latham is denying he threatened Madisonville Police Department officers with indictments as alleged in a cease and desist request from the county attorney.
The Hopkins County Sheriff's Department and MPD were at loggerheads earlier this month over jurisdiction issues.
Hopkins County Attorney Todd P’Pool issued his cease and desist to Latham April 1 after a meeting was held to smooth the communication problems between the law enforcement groups. In Latham’s response, issued through Hopkinsville attorney J. Michael Foster and dated April 4, the sheriff denies any threats of indictment and claims P'Pool has a conflict of interest.
P’Pool, meanwhile, said he was disappointed that Latham sought outside counsel.
“I was surprised that Sheriff Latham would spend taxpayer money on a private legal opinion that doesn’t really change anything,” P’Pool said. “It just regurgitated his denial. You know, he denies threatening indictments. I have the mayor of Madisonville, the chief of police and four or five other witnesses that I find to be credible.”
P'Pool said he hoped to prevent any malicious prosecution as a result of the threats. In his response, Latham said there is no legal liability for something that never occurred.
MPD chief Wade Williams sent P’Pool an email dated April 1 that details what Williams perceived to be threats of indictment against MPD officers. Williams wrote that Judge Executive Donnie Carroll told Mayor David Jackson, “We may just have to indict someone for wasting taxpayer money.” Williams continued, writing that Latham made a veiled threat of legal action, saying “I remember a time when federal agents stepped into one of our investigations, they found their asses locked up.”
Both Latham and P’Pool say they consider the matter to be closed.
