Date of Offense
Statement
Over a decade-long trajectory across multiple jurisdictions, Jason Runnels transitioned from a school environment into law enforcement, leaving a trail of severe civil rights violations, catastrophic bodily injury, and death:
Terry Bynum: Runnels was named in a major civil rights action during his tenure with the Smith County Sheriff’s Department following an operational incident involving excessive force and severe overreach. To prevent a public airing of his disciplinary history and internal records, the county shielded him by using taxpayer funds to secure a confidential financial settlement.
Bobby Bobbette: Operating under color of law for the Smith County Sheriff's Department, Runnels was involved in a high-speed vehicle pursuit. Runnels slammed into the motorcycle driven by Bobby Bobbette. Bobbette had life-altering injuries as a result of this incident.
Brandon Cross Duvall: Duvall was killed instantly, while the other person on the bike sustained severe, permanent physical trauma and injuries. In the federal lawsuit Jimmy Hugh Duvall, Jr. v. Smith County, Mississippi, Jason Runnels, et al. (Case No. 3:18-cv-00039), Runnels successfully escaped personal financial liability when the U.S. District Court granted his Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings based on the doctrine of Qualified Immunity.
Jared Padgett: Despite having actual knowledge of Runnels' prior misconduct and federal civil rights litigation, the Simpson County Sheriff’s Department hired Runnels as a full-time certified deputy sheriff in June 2021. This failure of administrative oversight culminated in the death of Jared Padgett. In April 2026, a federal civil rights lawsuit, Padgett et al v. Simpson County, Mississippi, Jason Runnels, et al. (Case No. 3:26-cv-00217), was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. The complaint identifies Runnels as a primary actor and ringleader in a pattern of custodial abuse, resulting in the torture and ultimate death of Padgett while in the custody of Simpson County officials.
Runnels' actions represent direct breaches of foundational federal constitutional protections and state statutes.
The Fourth Amendment was violated through the deployment of unreasonable, excessive, and lethal force. In the motorcycle crashes, the reckless ramming of the bikes in each incident constituted an unreasonable, life-threatening engagement.
In the case of Jared Padgett, the use of torture and starvation against an individual in state custody constitutes a flagrant violation of Substantive Due Process, directly violating the state's absolute duty to protect the life, safety, and basic human dignity of detainees thus violating the Fourteenth Amendment.
To the extent any victims were post-conviction detainees, the deployment of custodial torture represents the literal definition of "cruel and unusual punishment" protected by the Eighth Amendment.
His operational conduct violated the mandatory minimum training and tactical execution guidelines set by the Board on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Training (BLEST), escalating to criminal-level negligence, manslaughter, and depraved-heart overreach.
Runnels' long-standing history firmly cements his placement on this list.
Runnels’ history includes a documented pattern of utilizing excessive and fatal tactical force under color of authority, followed by institutional attempts to conceal the true nature of his operational record.
He has a track record of predatory, manipulative behavior dating back to his time as an educator, which demonstrates an ongoing absence of "good moral character" and systemic untrustworthiness.
Under Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150 (1972), the Supreme Court extended the disclosure requirement to include any information that could impeach the credibility of a government witness. Runnels' actions do not merely touch upon minor administrative infractions—they reach profound Giglio proportions.
Runnels’ presence on a Brady/Giglio list is validated because his career represents a total breakdown of law enforcement integrity. By establishing a pattern where institutions continuously hid his liabilities—Magee schools swept away his grooming behavior, Smith County bought out his excessive force complaints with secret settlements, and Simpson County willfully ignored his trail of wreckage—the state created an unaccountable actor. Placing him on the list is a mandatory legal safeguard required to protect the constitutional rights of the public from a compromised official whose testimony is structurally compromised.
The US Citizen Reporters are a group of public and private defense advocates that scour the internet for documented incidents of police misconduct that have eluded accountability.
