The Deputy Clerk Shuffle

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The January 6th Resolution

On January 6, 2026, the Biloxi City Council will consider Resolution 5C—appointing Tyra Johnson, described only as "current Biloxi police staff," as Deputy Clerk of the Municipal Court.

The contact persons listed on the agenda item are:

• Rick Weaver, Chief Administrative Officer
• Peter Abide, City Attorney

Peter Abide. The same Peter Abide currently defending the City in three consolidated federal civil rights lawsuits. The same Peter Abide whose law firm, Currie Johnson & Myers, bills Biloxi approximately $566,000 annually. The same Peter Abide whose deputy clerks notarized false affidavits used to initiate criminal prosecution against a federal plaintiff.

Why is the City Attorney personally shepherding a routine clerical appointment through City Council?

The answer requires a history lesson.

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The Brooke Vanover Precedent

The appointment resolution, recommended by Creel himself, stated it would be "advantageous" for Vanover to "complete sworn documents for code enforcement violations" when no other deputy clerk was available.

Read that again.

The Building Department wanted its own employee—supervised by the Building Official—appointed as deputy court clerk so she could process the Building Official's sworn documents.

On October 4, 2024, Vanover took an oath to "support the Constitution" and "obey the laws." She holds a Mississippi Notary commission requiring truthfulness verification and prohibiting conflicts of interest under Miss. Code §§ 25-34-1 and 25-33-13.

Then came July 2025.

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The July 10th Affidavits

One problem: No sworn complaint existed. Mississippi Code § 21-23-7(9) permits criminal citations only "upon execution of a sworn complaint."

All four claimed the plaintiff violated "City of Biloxi Ordinance # IRC R105.1."

Vanover notarized all four affidavits anyway.

Her supervisor handed her documents. She stamped them. No questions asked.

This is what federal court documents have described as a "closed loop of self-certification"—where the accuser's own employees validate the accuser's accusations.

The criminal case was dismissed on September 19, 2025.

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The Federal Exposure Problem

Here's what the City didn't anticipate: federal litigation creates permanent records.

The Vanover scheme is now documented in three consolidated federal cases. The false affidavits. The non-existent ordinance. The citation-before-complaint sequence. The supervisor-subordinate notarization conflict. All of it, filed in the Southern District of Mississippi, available on PACER, preserved forever.

Brooke Vanover is named as a defendant. She's facing § 1983 liability for deprivation of rights under color of law. Her dual role—Community Development employee by day, deputy court clerk by demand—is exhibit A in a pattern-and-practice case.

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What Mississippi Law Actually Requires

Before we discuss the pivot, let's examine what the statute actually says.

Miss. Code § 21-23-11 establishes the structure of municipal court clerks:

Under the direction of the municipal judge. Not the Building Official. Not the Police Chief. Not the City Attorney. The judge.

This is a separation of powers requirement. Court personnel serve the court. They answer to judicial authority. That's what makes them court personnel rather than executive branch employees cosplaying as judicial officers.

The statute does contain an exception for when "the municipal judge is unavailable." But read carefully what that exception actually covers:

The exception applies when:

1. The judge is unavailable (not "when no other clerk is available")
2. Only for initial appearances (not for processing affidavits)
3. Only if the clerk completed Judicial College training
4. Only if the judge established written guidelines entered in court minutes

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What Biloxi Actually Did

The City Council resolution appointing Brooke Vanover stated her appointment was "advantageous" to "complete sworn documents for code enforcement violations" when "no other deputy clerk available."

Read that again.

The statute's exception covers: judge unavailable → initial appearances only.

Biloxi's interpretation: clerk unavailable → Building Official's employee processes criminal affidavits.

Vanover was never "under the direction of the municipal judge." She was under the direction of Jerry Creel, who signed her performance reviews, controlled her salary, and—most critically—was the same person whose criminal accusations she was notarizing.

Tara Busby operates under the same arrangement. Both women serve dual roles: Community Development employees by paycheck, deputy court clerks by appointment. They answer to Creel. They process Creel's affidavits. They validate Creel's accusations.

The statute requires judicial supervision. Biloxi provided executive supervision. That's not a loophole. That's a violation dressed in procedural clothing.

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The Sanitization

Here's what changed: federal litigation.

The Vanover-Busby arrangement is now documented in three consolidated federal cases. The false affidavits. The supervisor-subordinate notarization. The "closed loop of self-certification." Every sordid detail, filed in the Southern District of Mississippi, indexed on PACER, preserved for eternity.

Brooke Vanover is a named defendant facing § 1983 liability. Tara Busby's involvement is documented in the same filings. The Building Department pipeline isn't just compromised—it's radioactive.

So what does a careful attorney do when his preferred mechanism for manufacturing criminal charges gets exposed in federal court?

He finds a new mechanism.

Enter Tyra Johnson. "Current Biloxi police staff."

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The Loophole That Isn't

Yes, Mississippi law permits police officers to serve as deputy court clerks. Miss. Code § 21-23-11 states plainly:

Peter Abide knows this. He's banking on it.

But here's what the statute doesn't say: that police officers serving as deputy clerks are exempt from judicial supervision. The same sentence that permits police officer clerks appears in a statute that mandates clerks operate "under the direction of the municipal judge."

A police officer can be a deputy clerk. But a deputy clerk—regardless of their prior employment—must serve under judicial direction. The badge doesn't change the supervisory requirement.

And here's the constitutional problem that no state statute can cure: when the same agency that investigates, arrests, and prosecutes also controls the administrative intake of criminal cases, due process evaporates.

Tyra Johnson would have authority to:

• Process sworn affidavits initiating criminal charges
• Issue citations
• Administer oaths on charging documents

While remaining police staff. While her colleagues investigate cases. While her department makes arrests. While the same institutional interests that drive enforcement also control the documentation that enables prosecution.

The Supreme Court addressed structural bias in Tumey v. Ohio, 273 U.S. 510 (1927). The principle is straightforward: arrangements that create inherent conflicts between adjudicative functions and enforcement interests violate the Fourteenth Amendment. It doesn't matter if the individuals involved are honorable. What matters is whether the structure itself creates unconstitutional pressure.

Vanover processing Creel's affidavits was unconstitutional because she answered to Creel.

Johnson processing police affidavits would be unconstitutional because she answers to the police.

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The Pivot

This is what sanitization looks like.

Brooke Vanover—the puppet who stamped whatever her supervisor handed her—is now a federal defendant. Tara Busby—whose appearance in court filings has not enhanced the City's litigation posture—is documented as part of the same scheme.

The Building Department conduit is burned. Everyone who touches it gets named in federal lawsuits.

So Abide pivots to law enforcement. Same function, different department. A fresh face with no federal litigation baggage. Someone who hasn't yet notarized a false affidavit charging someone with violating an ordinance that doesn't exist.

The January 6, 2026 agenda item is damage control disguised as routine administration.

But here's what Abide forgot: the pattern is the evidence.

When you replace one compromised pipeline with an identical pipeline routed through a different department, you're not fixing the constitutional violation. You're proving the enterprise adapts. You're demonstrating that the scheme continues regardless of which employees staff it. You're creating RICO continuity.

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The Abide Fingerprint

Consider who sponsors each appointment:

When the City Attorney gets personally involved in appointing municipal court staff, something more than paperwork is at stake.

Peter Abide knows what's in the federal court filings. He knows the Vanover mechanism is documented. He knows the next round of amended complaints will include everything the undersigned has published about the deputy clerk scheme.

So he's building a backup.

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The Criminal Friend

Peter Abide has a problem.

Three federal lawsuits. Multiple defendants. Constitutional violations documented in excruciating detail. And a deputy clerk scheme that federal filings describe as a "closed loop of self-certification."

Abide didn't create the Vanover-Busby arrangement by accident. The October 2024 resolution appointing Vanover came upon Creel's recommendation—but Abide, as City Attorney, approved the legal structure that enabled it. He blessed the arrangement where Building Department employees would process Building Department accusations. He signed off on the conflict.

Now that arrangement is Exhibit A in pattern-and-practice litigation.

So Abide does what careful attorneys do: he learns. He adapts. He sanitizes.

The January 6 resolution routes around the contaminated Building Department entirely. Police staff instead of code enforcement. A fresh appointment with no litigation history. Same unconstitutional structure, different personnel.

But learning from your mistakes is not the same as correcting them. Abide isn't fixing the due process violation. He's camouflaging it.

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The RICO Implication

For those following the federal litigation, this matters.

A RICO enterprise doesn't require every participant to know the full scope of the scheme. It requires a pattern of racketeering activity and continuity—an ongoing organization with a structure that exists to facilitate the predicate acts.

When one node of the enterprise gets exposed, the enterprise adapts. It doesn't dissolve. It reroutes.

The Vanover appointment created Building Department access to court document processing. That access was used to manufacture false affidavits initiating criminal prosecution against a federal plaintiff.

The Johnson appointment creates Police Department access to the same function.

And now there's a documented paper trail showing the enterprise learning from federal litigation exposure and restructuring accordingly. That's not exculpatory. That's consciousness of guilt with a strategic response.

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What We're Watching

The January 6, 2026 City Council meeting will tell us whether the Council understands what it's approving.

The undersigned suspects nobody will ask these questions. The resolution will pass on consent. The appointment will be buried in the January minutes. And when the next false affidavit surfaces, everyone will claim ignorance.

That's how it works in Biloxi.

But now there's a record.

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A Note on Tyra Johnson

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The Takeaway

The City of Biloxi has a deputy clerk problem.

Not because deputy clerks are bad. But because Biloxi uses deputy clerk appointments to create administrative access to criminal court processing—access controlled by the same officials who generate the documents being processed.

When Brooke Vanover got exposed, they didn't fix the system. They found a replacement.

When Tyra Johnson gets exposed—and if she's used the way Vanover was used, she will—they'll find another replacement.

Until someone with subpoena power asks the right questions.

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Happy New Year, Biloxi.

The undersigned will be watching.

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Documents Referenced

• City Council Agenda Item 5C (January 6, 2026)
• Resolution approving Brooke Vanover's appointment (October 22, 2024)
• Miss. Code § 21-23-11 — Municipal Court Clerks
• Miss. Code § 21-23-7(9) — Criminal citation requirements
• Miss. Code §§ 25-34-1, 25-33-13 — Notary requirements
• Tumey v. Ohio, 273 U.S. 510 (1927) — Structural bias
• Federal court filings in Cases 1:25-cv-00178-LG-RPM, 1:25-cv-00233-LG-RPM, and 1:25-cv-00254-LG-RPM (S.D. Miss.)

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Related Investigations

• Perjury on July 10 — The false affidavits that started it all
• The Star Chamber of Biloxi — Inside the secret tribunal where due process goes to die
• Directed by the Mayor and Abide — Jerry Creel testified under oath that the City Attorney "directed" him

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People vs Biloxi — Documenting What They'd Rather You Didn't Know