Curtis O. Dedeaux

Curtis O. Dedeaux (October 6, 1919 – September 10, 1966) was an American law enforcement officer who served as the Sheriff of Harrison County, Mississippi from 1960 to 1964.

Early life Curtis O. Dedeaux was born on October 6, 1919, in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. He was educated in Mississippi schools and then obtained a master's degree in political science from the University of Chicago. He thereafter worked at a packing plant. He married and had a stepdaughter.

Shrieval career Dedeaux ran for the office of Sheriff of Harrison County in 1955 and lost. He sought office again in 1959 and defeated Edward McDonald in the second Democratic primary in August, eventually beginning his term in 1960. In June 1962 Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett ordered a crackdown on liquor sales in the Gulf coast region and dispatched the National Guard to raid nightclubs. Dedeaux requested that all establishments which sold liquor "remained closed until further notice". He criticized Barnett's crackdown as a publicity stunt, saying "He's not going to change anything on the coast and he knows it." Dedeaux left office in 1964.

Later life In 1962 bar and brothel owner Joseph A. Garriga was arrested for violating the Mann Act. He testified in his own trial that he had paid Dedeaux protection money to allow his business to remain open. Garriga was convicted, but his testimony led the federal government to investigate Dedeaux for failure to report taxable income. He was subsequently indicted and found guilty in court of falsifying information on tax forms. The judge sentenced him to two years incarceration and ordered him to pay a fine of $15,000. Before he was to report to prison, Dedeaux was found dead at his home in Biloxi on September 10, 1966. An autopsy ruled that he had died from barbiturate poisoning. A funeral was held at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church in Biloxi and he was buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Gulfport.