This newspaper's opinion page has never wavered in its low tolerance of those who drive drunk. That does not change now just because we have had a generally good opinion of County Commissioner Jeff Thompson and he was arrested on that charge last week.

First things first, Thompson is innocent until proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

It could be circumstances exist of which we and the general public are unaware. Thompson must have his day in court as must everyone charged in a crime.

Having said that, it is our fervent wish that if Thompson is guilty — and only he knows that at this point — that he not attempt to avoid a conviction, but simply take care of business and meet his responsibility under the law.

We also hope that this is not a case where any plea bargains of any sort are made. It is our understanding he has never before had such an offense.

If guilty, he should be given the maximum sentence for a first offense — that includes 72 hours in jail, some of which he has already served — and be done with it. If actually guilty of driving under the influence he should not be allowed to plead guilty to any lesser charge.

However, believing this to be his only offense of this sort and considering that no one was hurt, we would not go so far as to call on him to resign or suggest that the county make any move to remove him from office.

This does not prevent him from continuing to be an asset to this county.

He knows his job well and can continue to do it, though he would have to work through getting a permit to drive. A DUI conviction brings an automatic suspension of your driver's license.

People all make mistakes and deserve second chances, that is both a part of our legal system and the religion that most of us espouse.

But our patience is limited both by Thompson's age — he is well old enough to know better than this — and by his position of leadership in the county.

We no longer expect our elected officials to serve as role models for our children. We've been burned a few too many times for that.

Still, when we see a negative such as this happen it still disappoints us.

As we said, people deserve second chances, but in matters such as this, it is all they deserve.

If Thompson has a drinking problem — again, only he would know this — he needs to seek help immediately. If this were to ever happen again during his tenure, it would call either for a resignation or for authorities to take action to remove him.

We expected nothing less than professionalism from the Harrison County Sheriff's Office, but it should be noted that the deputies dealing with this almost certainly felt themselves in a touchy situation.

After all, Thompson is one of the votes on the commissioners' court that decides budget. Thompson would not have had to said a word — and we haven't heard that he did — for them to understand the possible implications.

The deputies did exactly the correct thing in seeing that the law was upheld.

Out of this entire episode, that is the one thing that makes us feel good.