Local attorneys Glen Neier and Dan Wilson are in the race for an open seat in Flathead County Justice Court.
Flathead has two justices of the peace. Judge David Ortley currently holds the Department 1 seat, but will vacate his position at the end of the year due to his campaign for District Court judge.
As justice of the peace, the elected official will be responsible for certain DUI infractions, traffic tickets from the Montana Highway Patrol and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks citations, among other duties, such as marriages and civil cases.
Neier, currently a public defender, believes he has the right temperament and qualifications for the job. He has lived in the Flathead for most of his life, leaving only to go to law school and work in White Sulphur Springs for five years.
In 1981, Neier returned to the Flathead and began working as the Kalispell city attorney the next year. He held that position until 1991, when he left to work in private practice. When the public defender system was created in 2006, Neier left private practice to work as a staff attorney in the office.
He ran for a district judgeship in the 1990s, and believes he has the skill to take over the justice of the peace position.
“I think that I’ve got a wide range of experience in criminal law,” Neier said. “I’ve been doing it for about 35 years.”
Neier acknowledged that being a justice of the peace in Flathead County is no simple undertaking.
“It’s a terribly hard job,” Neier said. “Those guys go from 8:30 in the morning to 5 at night and never stop.”
As a public defender, Neier said he knows as much as anyone about how the criminal end of the justice court works, and he has a good perspective on how situations affect each side of a case.
Though he recognized DUIs as a major problem in Flathead County, Neier said he believes the current judges are following state statute when it comes to meting out punishment.
But Neier also noted that a justice of the peace must take the current economy into consideration.
“The problem with fines is the people that got in trouble often get in trouble because they don’t have any money,” Neier said. “In this economy, not a lot of people can pay.”
Neier said the crowed jail should also be taken into account when handing down a sentence.
“If I’m elected I’m going to do my best to run the office efficiently and to treat everybody that comes before me fairly,” Neier said.
For Dan Wilson, running for justice of the peace is an opportunity to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps.
Wilson’s grandfather was a city judge and justice of the peace in Malta, and visiting his courtroom made a deep impression on the young Wilson. It was this influence that led him to law school at the University of Minnesota.
After graduating in 1993, Wilson came back to Montana to work at the county attorney’s office in Great Falls, followed by a stint at the county attorney’s office in Chinook.
He moved to the Flathead County attorney’s office and stayed there until 1998, when he formed his own private practice, Measure and Wilson PC.
Working as a deputy county attorney gave him experience in prosecution, Wilson said, and his work in private practice provided chances to work on the defense side as well.
Overall, Wilson said he believes the Flathead’s Justice Court runs efficiently, thanks in large part to several court administration technology pilot programs from the state.
“I would like to see the Justice Court run even more streamlined so that it can issue its decisions as quickly as possible, maintaining the very large caseload that it has,” Wilson said.
He would also like to see the night court program expanded to more nights during the week, as well as more use of alcohol and GPS monitoring technology for non-violent offenders.
Wilson said the economy and jail space would be major factors in deciding punishment, and alternatives such as house arrest or ankle bracelets may be considered.
With a wide spectrum of experience, Wilson believes he could handle all aspects of the Justice Court.
“I think that my 17 years of experience handling cases in the lower courts in Flathead County and other counties, and state district courts both east and west of the mountains and my experience in federal courts has equipped me to do the job and treat people fairly and respectfully,” Wilson said.
The general election is on Nov. 2. Absentee ballots are available until noon on Nov. 1.