Ex-Hinds Justice Court deputy clerk accused of extortion

Harold Gater, The Clarion-Ledger

A former Hinds County employee is accused of accepting an unlawful payment while in Justice Court, Attorney General Jim Hood announced Monday.

Lakisa Renee Schuller, 38, of Clinton, was arrested last week by the Hinds County Sheriff’s Department after she was indicted by a Hinds County Grand Jury on one count of extortion by collecting unauthorized fees. Schuller was booked into the Hinds County Jail and released on a $5,000 bond.

Authorities say Schuller took $800 from a citizen as a monetary fee to remove a civil judgement from his record. The unauthorized fee that Schuller allegedly collected was in violation of Mississippi Code Section 97-11-33. The maximum sentence for extortion by a public official is five years in prison or a $5,000 fine for each count and the public official shall be removed from office.