Otis", Otis was temporarily deputized when it was learned that his family thought he worked in the sheriff's office because of his use of their stationery. During that time Otis became agitated with Barney's dictatorial style and Barney was especially concerned about having the town drunk made a deputy. An episode in Season 1 reveals Otis is the descendant of local Revolutionary War hero, Nathan Tibbs. The Women's Historical Society want to award Otis an honorary plaque, which causes Barney and the mayor to worry about Otis' condition at the upcoming ceremony; and, they pressure Andy to find a substitute. Otis, however, appears sober, clean-shaven and in a suit. He humbly gives the award to the town stating that he cannot take credit for "just being born." Also in this episode viewers are introduced to Otis' wife, Rita. In episode "Deputy Otis," the season 2 finale, it is revealed that Otis has a brother named Ralph (Stanley Adams), who is the town drunk in another community. Ralph and his wife Verlaine visit Mayberry on their way to Memphis. In the Season 1 episode, "Bringing Up Opie," Aunt Bee is concerned with Opie's frequent trips to visit Andy at the jail because of the nature of Andy's work. This includes Otis' presence. Near the end of the episode, Opie is allowed to conditionally return if Otis is not there. Opie, then 7, responds "You mean when he's had a snootful?" In the Season 4 episode, "Hot Rod Otis", Otis buys a car which concerns Barney who stakes Otis out for a possible DUI. When Otis emerges from a party drunk, Andy and Barney intervene and trick Otis into believing he died while driving drunk. Otis reveals he had already sold his car. Only twice was Otis arrested for something other than drunkenness. In the episode "Ellie For Council," Otis is jailed for assault — during a fight with Rita, Otis tries to hit her with a leg of lamb, misses, and hits his mother-in-law in the mouth (much to his delight). In "Barney and the Governor", while already in the jail for drinking, Otis spikes the courthouse's water cooler with whisky, causing Barney and Mayor Roy Stoner to get inadvertently drunk. This, as Andy says in the epilogue of the episode, is a "serious offense" in a dry county like Mayberry, and Otis has to serve a lengthier sentence than usual.