Election 2018
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, April 25, 2018
A7
Preston wants common Stinnett dedicated to justice system
sense in justice court
By Richard Hanners
Blue Mountain Eagle
By Richard Hanners
Blue Mountain Eagle
Grant County justice of the peace candi-
date Harold Preston, 71, Prairie City, grew
up in Grant County and graduated from
Prairie City High School.
After a time in the Army, he attended col-
lege and graduated with a bachelor’s in edu-
cation at the University of Idaho and later a
master’s in education from the University of
Forest Grove.
After teaching and working in the private
sector, Preston went to Alaska in 1990. After
working on a tugboat, he was hired at the
state maximum security prison, where he
worked for 13 years, rising from disciplinary
sergeant to lieutenant.
He next worked six years as head of se-
curity and safety at a gold mine with 300
workers north of Juneau, followed by three
years as head of security at the federal build-
ing in Juneau. Preston then retired and re-
turned to Grant County.
Preston said it was important for a justice
of the peace to keep an open mind and be
fair, and to show compassion while using
common sense. He said he grew up here and
understands when someone is not paying
close attention and accidentally speeds in
their car.
“Those things happen,” he said. “Of
course, if it was a pattern, then we would
need to treat it more harshly.”
Harold
Preston
Fining a person $500
when they don’t have the
money and won’t have it
any time soon is a situation
that calls for adjustment,
Preston said. Requiring a
person with financial hard-
ships to complete commu-
nity service just takes that
person out of the job market,
he said.
“He’s not getting paid and not being pro-
ductive at putting food on the table,” he said.
Preston said he’d prefer to talk to busi-
ness owners who need workers to see if they
could hire these people temporarily while
they pay off their fines. A justice of the peace
needs to use common sense when handling
landlord-tenant cases, Preston said. He said
he’d hate to see tenants thrown out, but if
they’re not paying rent or trashing the place,
it’s unfair to the landlord.
“If they’re driving a nice new car and
buying New York steaks, that would tell me
they’re deadbeats,” he said.
Preston said he has the experience to
handle the management requirements at jus-
tice court.
“I’ve never had an employee that com-
plained about me,” he said.
Preston said he decided to run to provide
voters with a choice.
“Nobody should run unopposed,” he
said.
Grant County Justice of the
Peace Kathy Stinnett, 59, John
Day, is running for a second six-
year term. She won a three-way
primary race in May 2012 with
72 percent of the vote to suc-
ceed Terry Farrell as justice of
the peace.
Stinnett grew up in Grant
County and graduated from
high school here with honors.
She and her husband owned
a plumbing business for 25
years.
“I’m a self-taught book-
keeper and business manager,”
she said.
Stinnett served on the coun-
ty planning commission from
2000-2008. She served as a
Grant County Justice Court
Clerk from 2009-2013 and as
Grant County Justice of the
Peace Pro Tem from 2011-
2012. She has attended the Na-
tional Judicial College in Reno,
Nevada, as required by statute.
“The office is unique in that
a justice of the peace is both a
state court judge and a county
elected official,” she said.
Justices of the peace pre-
date Oregon statehood, she
said. Justice courts are courts
of limited jurisdiction that han-
dle violations,
misdemeanors,
small claims,
evictions and
other criminal
or civil matters.
Stinnett
Kathy
said she spends
Stinnett
about 40 per-
cent of her time
handling misdemeanor crimes,
about 30 percent on traffic vio-
lations and about 30 percent on
small claims and civil matters.
The court also handles city or-
dinance violations for John
Day, Canyon City, Prairie City,
Mt. Vernon and Long Creek,
she said.
Stinnett also is serving her
second one-year term as pres-
ident of the Oregon Justice of
the Peace Association, which
seeks to preserve local court
systems against a movement to
consolidate courts.
“There is no guarantee we
will have these court systems
in the future unless we advo-
cate for why counties need
them,” she said.
Currently, justice courts are
independent of the Oregon Ju-
dicial Department and justices
of the peace are elected locally,
but that could change, she said.
“We are constantly having
to be aware of changes that
threaten local court systems,”
she said. “It’s our biggest chal-
lenge.”
Stinnett said she works full
time, “which means 24/7,”
while her clerk works a four-
day week. As a result, Grant
County Justice Court is closed
on Fridays.
“It’s a challenge to run the
court the way it should be –
professionally, fairly and serv-
ing the needs of the people,”
she said.
Stinnett said she recognizes
the county’s budget constraints,
but the case load has increased
and there is a need for the court
to be open on Fridays.
“The county is bearing 100
percent of the cost of running
Justice Court and receives only
a portion of the revenue that is
collected,” she said.
Part of her job is educating
people about the court, whether
they’re appearing in court on a
charge or someone she meets in
public.
“I am dedicated to provid-
ing access to justice for local
citizens and passionate about
preserving justice courts in Or-
egon,” she said. “I want to con-
tinue to work on these things.
I don’t want to walk away
from the goals I have set for
myself.”
ELECTION
Candidates
Continued from Page A1
• County judge: Jim Hamsher, Scott Myers
• County commissioner: Tanner Elliott, Gordon Larson, Ar-
chie Osburn, Sam Palmer, Richie Colbeth
staunch critic of the initiative
but “you can’t stuff it back in
the bottle” and that he would
support a tax if the initiative
passes.
• Justice of the peace: Harold Preston, Kathy Stinnett
• District attorney: Jim Carpenter
Natural resources
and conflicts
All the judge and commis-
sioner candidates said they
backed a 1999 ordinance in
support of the county’s culture
and custom, but Larson said
he had concerns about coun-
ty laws challenging federal
supremacy. Commissioners
should look out for potential
legal conflicts, and if people
don’t like a law they should
follow the legal process to
change it, he said.
Larson also said he had
“grave concerns” about a
county ordinance claiming ju-
risdiction over roads on feder-
al lands. He said he got along
with Malheur National Forest
Supervisor Steve Beverlin and
believed in the rule of law and
the U.S. Constitution. He add-
ed that he believed he could
advocate for people who dis-
agreed with him.
Commissioner candidate
Archie Osburn said he strong-
ly opposed the creation of a
natural resource adviser po-
sition for the county. He said
he can work well with federal
agencies and he’d rather see
the funding used elsewhere.
Ending
divisiveness
The Eagle/Richard Hanners
Grant County Judge candidates Scott Myers, left, and Jim Hamsher talk before the start
of a candidate forum at the Trowbridge Pavilion in the Grant County Fairgrounds on
April 22.
County court members should
stay on top of issues, he said,
adding that it could be a long
time before the county found
out if they hired the right per-
son for the position.
Larson said he supported
the position with limitations,
citing concerns he had with
similar positions in other coun-
ties where the position became
too strong.
Myers said the position had
become a “hot topic lately.” Re-
lations between the county and
the Forest Service were much
better than in the past, he said.
Several candidates objected
to Elliott’s suggestion that he
was the only candidate with
no conflicts of interest. Palmer
noted that his brother was sher-
iff, but county budget decisions
were made by a committee, and
the sheriff’s office rarely asked
for a budget increase, so he saw
no significant problems.
People in public office
needed to recognize conflicts
right away and determine their
significance, Myers said. Ham-
sher noted that situations may
arise as “perceived, actual or
potential” conflicts, and pub-
lic officials should always re-
cuse themselves and always
be transparent.
Kathy Stinnett, the incum-
bent justice of the peace, said
she was fiercely patriotic and
proud of the oath she had tak-
en, and she supported keeping
local justice courts. Her chal-
lenger, Harold Preston, said
he filed because he believed
no one should run unopposed,
and if elected he would be
humble and educated.
Incumbent District At-
torney Jim Carpenter, who
is running unopposed, said
methamphetamine use in the
county has become a major
issue. A shortage of police
officers and passage of a bill
making meth possession a
misdemeanor was making
the problem more difficult, he
said.
Several candidates empha-
sized the need for the county
to heal and for residents to
end their divisiveness. Palm-
er called the last election cy-
cle “very disheartening” and
“ugly,” with threats that need-
ed to stop.
Hamsher suggested that
social media made it too easy
for people to criticize each
other.
Myers said he believed he
could work alongside any of
the other candidates. Above
all, Myers encouraged every-
one to vote.
Commissioner candidate
Richie Colbeth was called
away and didn’t participate in
the forum.
“It wasn’t an emergency,”
Colbeth later told the Eagle.
“It was at the point when I
realized that I had absolutely
no business even sitting at the
same table with those gen-
tlemen. I apologize and wish
them well. Whoever wins,
know that Grant County is in
good hands.”
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Help is available
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If you or someone you
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have a breakfast of ADVERTISED JUICE, cereal and toast, toasted in an
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Blue Mountain Eagle
MyEagleNews.com
Don’t get left behind, call today! Kim Kell 541-575-0710
Remember:
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This project was supported by Grant No. 2015-WR-AX-0008
awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women, U.S.
Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, conclusions,
and recommendations expressed in this publication/
program/exhibition are those of the author(s) and do not
necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice,
Office on Violence Against Women.
Designed by the Blue Mountain Eagle
45063