Carpenter, 67, was City Marshal of Magnolia from June 2006 to May 2009 and estimated Thornton requested and was granted by Municipal Judge John Purvis between 12 and 14 warrant dismissals a year.

According to documentation obtained by the Tribune, Nicole Anderton of Waller was ticketed on June 1, 2007 for speeding.

After failing to appear in court, Anderton accumulated court fees and fines. Anderton’s case was returned to court “per Judge via Jimmy Thornton” in the fall of 2007. Her case was dismissed on November 14, 2007. Under the “comments” section of the dismissal form, no explanation was given as to why the case was dismissed.

In a case involving Jacob Schultz in June 2008, a Magnolia Police Department Citation Dismissal Request Form shows that Thornton requested the dismissal of Schultz’s case. No explanation was given in the space allotted for comments.

The case was dismissed by Purvis.

“It doesn’t sound like many, but when people owe 2, 3 or $4,000 dollars, it turns into a lot of money,” Carpenter said.

“Let’s put it this way, every time I got a stack of new warrants, I’d say, ‘Should I call Jimmy and ask him if he knows these people?’ that’s how bad it got.”

As city marshal, Carpenter was under the administration of Judge John Purvis.

Purvis was unable to be reached for comment by press time last week. Thornton did not return several phone calls to the Tribune regarding comment for this story.

However, when contacted by the Tribune in May when the allegations first arose, Thornton denied Carpenter’s claims.

During her time as marshal, Carpenter said on multiple occasions she was forced to turn around after she had arrested someone after getting calls from Thornton and Purvis instructing her to bring the warrant to Purvis’ office.

“One woman I arrested, I went to her door and she said, ‘Jimmy Thornton took care of that warrant,’ and I said, “Ma’am I’m sorry, but the warrant is right here,” Carpenter said.

“I arrested her, got as far as Keenan Cutoff in Montgomery and was transporting her to Montgomery County Jail when I got a call from Thornton who told me to turn around and take her back,” she said.

“Then I got a call from Judge Purvis who told me to take the girl home and put the warrant on Purvis’ desk.”

Carpenter said she knew many of the people she arrested as city marshal but didn’t give them leniency.

“I’ve lived here since the 1960’s, and the first people I arrested were a husband and wife that went to school with my son,” she said. “I’ve known them since they were little kids.”

“The warrants don’t say if you know them don’t arrest them, it says you are hereby ordered,” she said.

Despite the controversy, Carpenter said she loved her job and time as city marshal.

“I loved working, I miss the heck out of working,” she said. “That was my life, my entertainment, my enjoyment.”

Carpenter, the city’s first female city marshal, cleared more than 4,900 warrants and accrued more than $635,000 for the City of Magnolia during the nearly three years she worked for Magnolia.

Prior to working as City Marshal, Carpenter was a patrol officer for the Magnolia Police Department.

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