The third Globe installment focusing on the hell debtors go through looks at constables as well as county sheriff offices.

The office of constable is as ancient as it is obscure, governed in Massachusetts by laws that date back to the 1600s. One power of the office - never repealed - is to ''take due notice of and prosecute all violations of law respecting the observance of the Lord's day, profane swearing and gambling.''

Nowadays, constables, and the deputy sheriffs who perform parallel work, busy themselves delivering subpoenas and other court papers, placing liens on real estate, and seizing personal property to satisfy court judgments - in the case of constables, judgments of no more than $2,500.

Where they differ is in accountability. Constables, for example, can legally operate only in the communities that license them. But that restriction, the Globe found, is often ignored.