Five candidates for Oktibbeha County justice court judge appeared at the 2015 Oktibbeha County Justice Court Judicial Candidate Forum on Tuesday.
The event was put on by Starkville-Oktibbeha Voter Education Initiative, a local non-profit led by attorney Jay Hurdle. It was the organizations first event.
Five of the 12 justice court judge candidates came to the event, which was held at Starkville Sportsplex. The candidates were questioned by a panel of three moderators: Brother Rogers of the John C. Stennis Center for Public Service; former Dispatch and current Clarion Ledger reporter Sarah Fowler; and Andrea Myles, also of the Stennis Center.
District 1 Judge Tony Boykin Jr., the only incumbent present, leaned heavily on his experience. He said he has spent nearly 40 years on the bench and encouraged the crowd to educate themselves and their neighbors about the courts.
“I invite everyone of you who hasn’t been, to come to justice court and see what goes on,” Boykin said.
His District 1 challenger, Jessi Collier, is on the other end of the spectrum.
The 20-year-old Mississippi State University senior said she hopes to bring youth and focus to the seat. Collier is studying Chinese, chemistry and international finance and has interned in Justice Court under Haley Brown. Collier attended Starkville High School.
“I am running for justice court judge in District 1 to bring a new generation of leadership to the bench,” she said.
Collier said she would like to add services to allow the community to learn laws and legal rights better. She proposed a video arraignment system to save time and money.
District 3 candidate William Hutchinson said he knows the courts well from his experience in law enforcement. He spent 12 years with the Sturgis Police Department, and was chief for four years. Hutchinson has worked for the Oktibbeha County Road Department for 28 years.
“You see a lot of things from the outside looking in that you know could be better,” Hutchinson said. “There’s a lot of things that need to be changed. Consistency is one of my pet peeves. I just see people being treated so differently.”
Marty Haug is facing Hutchinson in the District 3 race. Four other contenders in that race — Buddy Johnston, James A. Mills, Hardy Mitchell and Cheikh A. Taylor — did not attend the forum.
Haug is the only attorney running for a justice court seat in Oktibbeha County. The moderators asked the panel if they felt having a law degree was important. Most said it would help, but should not be mandatory. Haug said it was important.
“Certainly it’s critical for a court to be fair and for the judge to be honest and impartial,” he said. “But I think it’s crucial to have legal knowledge and have judges that know the law, know the rules of evidence, and know how to apply them.”
Larnzy Carpenter Jr. was the lone District 2 candidate present. Incumbent Bernard Crump and Kennedy Neal did not attend the forum. Carpenter has 35 years of law enforcement experience with the Oktibbeha County Sheriff Department and Starkville Police Department. He is a Marine Corps veteran and pastor, and currently serves as chief bailiff of Oktibbeha County Circuit Clerk, where he says he has learned about the courts.
“You have to be treating everybody right, you have to be fair in everything, you have to follow the law,” Carpenter said.
Fowler asked the candidates if they would preform same-sex marriages, a topic that has arisen since many justice court judges statewide have stopped officiating marriages altogether. Carpenter, a preacher, said he would not be officiating any weddings. Hutchinson echoed him, but Haug, Boykin and Collier all said they would.
“I’m trying to bring the law back into Justice Court,” Haug said. “It’s the law of the land and I’m going to do it.”
Hurdle said the goal of the event was to make voters familiar with local government. He told the crowd, which at its maximum had approximately 90 people, that local justice court judges are much more likely to impact local lives than the president. He said this impact combined with the relative anonymity of the position is why he wanted to start with justice court. This is the groups only event for this election cycle, but he said they hope to do more in the future.
“I felt like a good turnout would be 30-40 people, so I’m really happy with tonight,” Hurdle said.
Justice court judges in Oktibbeha County make $44,700 a year.
The election primary is Aug. 4.
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