Flathead County Justices of the Peace Paul Sullivan and Eric Hummel Face off in District Court Race
Both justices see addiction as one of the primary issues facing the Flathead County justice system
By Maggie Dresser
Flathead County Justices of the Peace Paul Sullivan and Eric Hummel are facing off in the nonpartisan race to become the next Flathead County District Court judge.
The seat is currently held by Judge Robert Allison, who is not seeking reelection.
Sullivan and Hummel previously faced off during the June primary election, with Sullivan winning 60% of the vote and Hummel receiving 40%.
Originally from Bigfork, 43-year-old Sullivan obtained his undergraduate degree from the University of Montana and his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 2009. He was elected as Justice of the Peace in 2018 and represented clients in civil and criminal cases for 10 years prior.
Appointed as Justice of the Peace in 2016, 54-year-old Hummel was reelected in 2018 and 2022 after a two-decade career practicing civil and criminal law, including a stint as a prosecutor in Flathead County in the late 1990s. Prior to his law career, he attended the University of Montana from 1989 to 1996, where he obtained his bachelor’s and law degrees.
Both candidates said drug and alcohol addiction are among the most challenging issues the Flathead Valley faces, but while Hummel believes the court system needs more effective advocates, Sullivan says programs should be left to other branches of the government.
“I do wish there were more treatment options, but all of them entail tradeoffs … what will fix everything is everyone pitching in,” Sullivan said.
In addition to addiction treatment, Hummel says the county also needs better mental health services.
Hummel said his time as Justice of the Peace has taught him to look at each case individually and hold people accountable for serious crimes.
“I’m serious when it comes to community safety,” Hummel said.
But for less serious charges like driving with a suspended license, failure to appear or other “crimes of poverty,” Hummel said he is more lenient.
Sullivan said he is not lenient toward individuals who don’t take their actions seriously or those who don’t express remorse when he hands down a sentence, prompting him to sometimes issues maximum penalties.
In addition to handling thousands of civil and criminal cases, Sullivan and Hummel see a high volume of petitions for temporary orders of protection related to domestic violence.
Hummel says he applies the law, which states that the petitioner must be a victim of stalking or assault, but he typically errs on the side of caution.
“I’m looking at community safety and making sure the petitioner is safe,” Hummel said.
Sullivan says he, too, applies the law when deciding each petition but recognizes the uncertainty that surrounds the potential for domestic violence.
In 2022, Sullivan denied a temporary order of protection petitioned by a Flathead County woman who a month later was gunned down by her ex-partner and employer – an incident that seriously injured her and killed her male companion. The defendant in the case – longtime local attorney Garry Seaman – later pleaded guilty to felony charges of deliberate homicide and attempted deliberate homicide and was sentenced to 60 years in the Montana State Prison.
“I think about that case a lot and it will be with me my entire life,” Sullivan said. “I have gone back and looked at that petition more times than I can count, but I have to make a decision on the information I have at the time – not the information I get later. With what I had on paper at the time, I still do not believe she qualified.”