Board seeks criminal charges vs. Kyrene constable
by Edythe Jensen & Cortney Bennett - Oct. 17, 2010 09:51 PM
The Arizona Republic
The state Constable Ethics, Standards and Training Board is pressing for criminal non-feasance charges and Superior Court intervention against Kyrene Justice Court Constable Jon Levenson, who for years has been drawing complaints and admonishments for not doing his job.
The constable failed to serve legal orders and subpoenas, didn't carry out evictions and misplaced important paperwork, wreaking havoc on court schedules and litigants' lives, according to the complaints.
Until now, most complaints have resulted in censure and retraining orders from the ethics board, which recently sent letters to interim Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley and Presiding Superior Court Judge Norman Davis, saying board members have "exhausted the remedies at our disposal" and want tougher action.
Levenson, 29, is running for re-election to the $60,000-a-year post. If convicted of non-feasance, a misdemeanor, he will be ineligible to hold office and could face fines and jail time, said David Alster, administrator for Maricopa County constables. Absent a criminal conviction, a Superior Court judge could force him to do the job or withhold Levenson's paycheck and prevent him from going to work, Alster said. When a constable doesn't perform his job, Alster said, court cases back up, property managers can't evict tenants, subpoenas aren't served and "the court system becomes totally inefficient."
In a telephone interview, Levenson gave several reasons for the accusations and board censures. He said Kyrene Justice of the Peace Elizabeth Rogers and her staff don't like him, that he lost a court order "in a stack of paper," that a landlord decided after the fact that he didn't want to proceed with a court-ordered eviction, and that he sent an e-mail to the wrong basket, among other reasons.
The constable also said his mother has been ill, which took him away from work duties at times.
"I understand they have a job to do," he said of ethics-board members. "Even if what they said is true, I don't think it's criminal."
Before he took office, Levenson was an employee of the Democratic Party in Phoenix and a competitive wrestler.
According to records provided by the ethics board, numerous justice-court officials complained that Levenson has been shirking his duties for nearly four years and hasn't changed in spite of repeated admonishments. Rogers filed the most recent complaint with the board, accusing her constable of not serving required legal papers in July.
Levenson did not respond to Rogers' latest complaint within the required 20 days, which prompted her letter to the board.
In his letter to Romley, Pima County Constable Vince Roberts, chairman of the ethics board, said Levenson "has been repeatedly admonished for these same failures and instructed that further failure of this nature will result in referral to your office for charges of non-feasance in public office."
"This constable has been counseled multiple times by his peers, including members of this board, and officially admonished on numerous occasions, yet he continues to receive the same complaints for the same misconduct," the letter says.
William FitzGerald, spokesman for the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, said in e-mail that "the matter is under investigation" and suggested that The Republic check back with the office next month. Karen Arra, spokeswoman for Maricopa County Superior Court, said Davis received the letter but has taken no action yet. Messages left for Justice of the Peace Rogers were not returned.
Rogers and Levenson are both Democrats seeking re-election in the Kyrene district, which includes west Tempe, south Scottsdale, Ahwatukee Foothills and portions of Phoenix. Rogers is challenged by Republican Don Calender; Levenson by Republican Brandon Schmoll.
Legislative District 20 Republicans, whose boundaries overlap the Kyrene Justice Court, have been calling attention to Levenson's behavior on the party's website, LD20GOP.com, and this week posted copies of racist and sexist blogs that Levenson allegedly posted on BuddyPic.com under the name DeepRising.
The constable acknowledged posting on the site but said a racist comment he picked up and repeated was written by someone else.
"I haven't posted on the site in over a week," Levenson said. "They're drudging up stuff like this, grasping at stuff; I wish they'd quit."
District 20 Republicans also posted comments from Gary Wilson, former deputy constable and retired Chandler police officer who said he trained Levenson in 2007.
"Constable Levenson would sit in his office for hours on end playing on his company computer, or he would just not show up at work and request that I should take all the court papers out for service so that he could stay at home," Wilson wrote.
In a phone interview, Wilson said he came forward with his criticism after Levenson reportedly blamed his conduct on poor training.
Alster, the constable administrator, said complaints against constables are common. The elected post has few requirements other than the ability to win a partisan race.
In 2003, former Arcadia Biltmore Constable Annette Clark was stripped of her duties by a Superior Court judge after complaints about not serving legal documents and rudeness to litigants. But she was re-elected in 2004 and continued to get paid while deputy constables performed her job. Her term ended in 2008.
Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/community/tempe/articles/2010/10/17/20101017constable-jon-levenson-charges.html#ixzz14F4Ps3MF
FRAT and WFA.
Extremely interesting information. 
LOL I remember that ass hat.
...this week posted copies of racist and sexist blogs that Levenson allegedly posted on BuddyPic.com under the name DeepRising.
The constable acknowledged posting on the site but said a racist comment he picked up and repeated was written by someone else.
"I haven't posted on the site in over a week," Levenson said. "They're drudging up stuff like this, grasping at stuff; I wish they'd quit."
LMFAO
"I haven't done that for over a week, quit living in the past"
No wonder members of the "Ghetto Grapplers" fight team threatened to kill Pred on this forum
You're in trouble for posting in the Wrong Forum Asshole!
1 Like
^^^Levenson is an MMA fighter bro.
"Hes lucky I didnt fist him"
Heddy4Cerrone
Trust me, the Predator has a HUGE history on this Forum as you can see by some of the other posts.
- WFA
2. There are 2 threads about Jon on the OG.
3. Has anyone heard the election results for his position? He was down 52-48 with 77% of the vote counted last night.
JPet - Heddy4CerroneApparently
Trust me, the Predator has a HUGE history on this Forum as you can see by some of the other posts.
Constable-Kyrene
100.0% of Precincts Reporting (62 of 62 Precincts)
Total Number of Votes Percent
REP - SCHMOLL, BRANDON C. - R 16,632 53%
DEM - LEVENSON, JON - D 14,814 47%
Total Number of Votes 31,446
Last Updated: Nov. 3, 2010 @ 10:30 AM MST
Hi Steamfitter - It's offical ... he went DOWN !!!!!
^^^We need that pic of Pred being pinned lol
Holy shit, lol! I didnt think I'd ever that name again
He is going to have a lot of time to post here.
- I wish the preydater still posted
2. The fact he got elected to a decent paying position is proof there is no god, karma, or justice
OMFG I haven't thought at the preadator in years...wow.
It's now ex-constable Jon "The Predator" Levenson
ttt