Marion County’s Center Township constable accused of contempt of court
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The contempt of court accusation stems from an incident last week involving an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officer and Marion County’s Center Township Constable Denise Hatch.
A lawyer representing the property management company Streelane Homes filed a motion claiming Hatch was in contempt for attempting to prevent the eviction of a family from one of their properties.
Hatch on Thursday was in Marion County Small Claims Court to face that accusation.
Judge Brenda Roper did not decide whether or not Hatch is in contempt of court because of what happened, but the judge did decide to appoint a special constable to handle all evictions for Streelane Homes.
In court, Hatch and her attorney asked Judge Roper to recuse herself from the case. They claimed Roper was acting in a biased fashion.
Hatch stood by her decision to prevent the eviction last week. She claimed the person who lived there showed her a court order delaying the eviction.
“Tenants have a right to be treated with compassion. Chantel had an application for a stay. She had a stay. You all don’t understand what was at stake here. Chantel was about to be arrested,” Hatch said.
The Marion County Small Claims Court had denied the application for a delayed eviction. The judge says she will decide whether or not Hatch is in contempt of court by the end of the day Monday.
Roper had Hatch swear under oath to make sure she executes all future orders handed down by the court.