Melody Michaud, Fannin County Republican Women, PAC President presided over an informative meeting Monday night that gave local voters an opportunity to learn more about 336th District Court candidates, challenger Charles Butler and incumbent Laurie Blake, along with 6th District Court Candidate Eric Clifford.
The race for 336th District Court is of particular interest because, with no Democratic challengers on the ballot, this judgeship will be determined by the primary election March 4. Primary elections require voters to choose either a Democratic or Republican ballot, so voters who feel strongly about the outcome of this race must request a Republican ballot.
"I believe there are issues to address and improvements to be made to the running of this court," stated Charles Butler. "To start with, there are 20% more felony cases pending today than three years ago, which means there are 20% more indicted felons walking our streets. At the same time, there has been a 90% increase in the court's budget in the last three years."
"You have to be fair, but firm," Butler continued. "You must also have a judicial temperament and be effective, so people will walk out of the courtroom having trust in their judicial system."
"Thank you for the opportunity to serve you over the last four years and I ask for your support on March 4," incumbent Lauri Blake began, adding that she believes in leadership by service and hard work.
Blake agrees the backlog must be addressed, but stated the problem was much worse when she was first elected and pointed to the record number of cases she tried during her first term.
"You have a DA's office that is doing the bidding of the county," Blake remarked. "This isn't a sleepy little justice system anymore. I'm giving Fannin County two full weeks a month."
In the race for 6th District Court, three Democrats, David Hamilton, Jess Nickerson and David Turner will square off in the March 4 primary election for the right to face Republican Eric Clifford in November's General Election.
Clifford said he was asked what he would do if elected.
"What would I do?" Clifford repeated. "I'd be here. Y'all would get tired of seeing me, which I understand hasn't been a problem over here."
Clifford explained how Lamar County dealt with prisoner overcrowding in the past.
"We don't have a jail anymore," Clifford explained. "We have a prison that will hold over 240 people. We operate a prison."
Although he served as mayor of Paris for nine years, Clifford realizes he is not well known in the western portion of District 6.
"I'm going to need a lot of help over here in Fannin County," Clifford acknowledged.
