Citizens in and around Grenada County are remembering Justice Court Judge Jimmy Tallant two days after his passing.
Tallant, who served seven terms as justice court judge for the county’s western district, passed away Tuesday evening. He was 78.
Visitation for Tallant was held today, Thursday, Jan. 7, at the Yalobusha River Rendezvous on Highway 8 West. Graveside services are scheduled for Friday in Lambert.
While presiding on Thursday afternoons in justice court, Tallant was a larger than life figure on the bench being stern and serious. Oftentimes he offered jaw-dropping advice to offenders.
“The next time you decide to get drunk, you go to bed,” Tallant told an offender facing public drunk charges in 2018.
Grenada County Sheriff Rolando Fair described Tallant as intelligent and a judge that understood the law.
“He also had a healthy dose of common sense and never lost sight of fair and justice,” Fair said.
In a 2016 court proceeding, the veteran judge fined a couple a substantial amount of money for possession of glass bottles on a beach area in east Grenada County near Grenada Lake.
“I don’t like that at all,” Tallant said. “A little baby can walk out there on that beach and step on that glass.”
Wednesday morning Justice Court Clerk Judith Eldridge said the office will not be the same.
“We were a family,” Eldridge said. “We were more than co-workers. He’d provide us with lunch and breakfast and want to know about our families. He was a tough judge, but he had a heart.”
District One Grenada County Supervisor Michael Lott, who serves as board president, said Tallant did a great service to Grenada County.
“He was a great judge and was a friend to the community,” Lott said. “He will be missed.”
County prosecutor Robbie Wilson also said Tallant was a fine judge, who was also her mentor.
“I talked with him every week and I really don’t understand how court will be without him,” Wilson concluded.
More on Tallant and the impact he made on Grenada County will included in next week’s edition of The Grenada Star.
