By TAMMIE TOLER
Princeton Times
May 02, 2008 10:55 am
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PRINCETON — All of Mercer County’s five magistrate court benches are up for grabs in the general election, and the race to rule in the misdemeanor court fields a full lineup of competitors.
Thirteen candidates — 12 Democrats and a lone Republican — have signed on the ballot for the primary campaign. The field includes three incumbents — Harold Buckner, Mike Flanigan and Rick Fowler. The two remaining incumbents — Danny Fulknier and Jerry Flanagan opted not to seek re-election in the upcoming race.
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Roscoe Boone, a Democrat, is a former Bluefield Police Department officer, Mercer County Sheriff’s Department deputy and private investigator. He is currently employed as a process server and volunteers as a chaplain for MCSD.
During a meet-the-candidates session at the Mercer County Courthouse recently, he said he’s unofficially changed the name of the documents he serves. Instead of subpoenas, he said they’re “now known as an invitation to a party at the courthouse.”
In his personal life, Boone works as a Sunday school teacher at the Bluefield, Va., Church of God.
Throughout his different walks in life, Boone said he maintains a consistent set of values and a strong determination to do the right thing.
“I don’t change. I don’t put on a different face for any group,” he said. “I will bring honesty, integrity and fairness to the bench with me.”
He told voters he asked for their support, votes and prayers on May 13 and afterward.
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Harold Buckner has served 16 years as magistrate and eight years as Mercer County sheriff, all while also owning and operating a business in the small Melrose community.
The Democrat incumbent said his secrets to success and re-election have always been working hard for the citizens he serves and keeping his doors open for people with concerns or new ideas.
“I have done that, and I will continue to do that,” he said.
Beyond that, Buckner said one of his guiding principles is based on the golden rule.
“You’ve got to treat people like you’d like to be treated,” he said, vowing to remember that on the bench, if re-elected.
“I’d appreciate your vote on May 13,” he said.
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Roy Compton doesn’t speak loudly, but if elected as a magistrate, the Democrat candidate pledged to serve the legal system and county citizens with strength and fairness.
A bad vocal chord keeps his speech quiet, but he told voters recently he didn’t expect to have a problem controlling his courtroom. He said a doctor recently told him, “Don’t worry, if they can’t hear you, they’ll ask you again.”
Compton is a veteran law enforcement officer. He retired as a lieutenant with 20 years of experience from the Mercer County Sheriff’s Department and worked 12 years as a magistrate.
This primary, he’s seeking to return to that office.
“I’ve come forward and would ask anyone to check my background,” he said. “I ask for your vote in the coming election. I appreciate it in every way.”
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When Mike Flanigan was appointed to the Mercer County Magistrate bench in 1996, he was the youngest magistrate in the state. Twelve years later, the Democratic candidate, is one of the veterans on the ballot and wants to hold onto the job.
He holds bachelor’s and associate’s degrees from Bluefield State College and serves as the magistrate in Mercer County’s drug court, an alternative sentencing program for non-violent drug offenders.
Throughout his term of service, Flanigan said he has been available on-call 24 hours a day, and he promised to continue that trend if re-elected to the court he explained has jurisdiction in all county misdemeanor cases and serves as a “stepping stone” on the way to felony trials.
Even amid the crowded field of competitors, Flanigan said he only asked for a single vote.
“You’re allowed to vote for five. I just want one,” he said.
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Democrat Rick Fowler is currently completing his first term as one of Mercer County’s two Bluefield magistrates. He is the chief magistrate and serves as the alternate drug court magistrate.
Until he was elected four years ago, Fowler said he could never understand people who said they loved their jobs. Now, he said, he gets that concept and believes he can do good, even facing alleged offenders every day.
One of his primary goals, he said, is to always balance fairness with the allegations and find a fit in the judicial system.
“There are times you have to be as lenient as you can with somebody, to try to get their better side to come out,” he said.
In all decisions, Fowler said he strives to “do the right thing for the county.”
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Jake Hodges, a Democrat, is a Mercer County native and holds bachelor’s degrees in social work and psychology from Concord University.
“I’ve just been privileged to work with the underprivileged,” he said recently.
During his campaign, Hodges said he visited voters door to door and was particularly proud that he registered more than 75 new voters, just in time for the May primary.
Like the grassroots campaign effort, Hodges said he ran for magistrate to improve the place he calls home.
“I need a job that I can go to every day to Make Mercer County a better place,” he said.
If elected, he pledged to supervise his courtroom with the “gumption to do what needs to be done.”
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Democrat Susan Honaker is currently completing a criminal justice degree at Bluefield State College, and she’s an active volunteer in the Bluefield and Bramwell communities. She organized a veterans’ program in Bramwell, coached little league sports and assisted in scheduling summers full of entertainment in Bluefield’s Chicory Square. She even took the stage and sang for the audience herself.
If elected as a magistrate, she promised to dedicate herself to safeguarding the people who appear before her and the community beyond the courtroom.
She also brings an outlook currently not represented in magistrate court.
“In our magistrate and our judicial system, we need a female perspective,” she said.
In bringing that, she also said she would work hard to deliver fair decisions while being honest, dependable and accessible.
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Democrat Marvin Lockett has worked for the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals for the last 13 years and is currently employed in the 12th Family Court Circuit as a case coordinator. In that role, he has been involved in domestic violence, custody, family law and other cases.
He said he was appointed to the Task Force on Self-Represented Litigants and has served on a variety of family law committees, including an assignment to train other court officials on multicultural issues and diversity.
In addition, Lockett has coached basketball and football on the pee wee and midget league levels and has been an official with the New River Valley Officials Association, where he has called many local and regional basketball games. He is also a minister, active in the J.H. Easley Tabernacle and the vocal group J.H. Easley Men of Standard.
If elected, Lockett said he would bring unique experience, honesty and integrity to the position, along with a knowledge of all the options the system offers.
“A magistrate is not only just a job,” he said. “It’s also an opportunity to help someone through alternative sentencing.”
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Democrat Charles N. Poe is a career law enforcement officer and recently retired from the Princeton Police Department as a seargent-detective with 22 years of experience.
Pointing to the witness stand in Judge William Sadler’s courtroom recently, he said. “I’ve sat in this chair, where I’ve testified to bring people to justice.”
Throughout his career, Poe said he worked cases involving almost every kind of crime conceivable. And, in that time, he also appeared before many judges, experiences he said gave him insight into the magistrate and judicial system.
“A magistrate needs to be dedicated, responsible, and most of all, needs to be available,” he said, affirming he would deliver all of those qualities. “I don’t want to see law enforcement officers tied up in court, waiting for a trial, or waiting for a judge ... I promise, I will work, if you’ll give me that opportunity.”
He said citizens of Princeton and Mercer County had relied on him for more than 20 years to enforce the law. The election offers another opportunity to continue that mission.
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Mark Shrader grew up in Bluewell and graduated from Bluefield State College. He is a father of two and is employed by Mercer County Public Schools and Wallace Security Company. He also serves as a Cub Scout master and a coach for the East River Soccer Association.
“I’m not scared of hard work, and I’m willing to dedicate everything I have,” he said.
Shrader, also a Democrat, told PikeView High School students he had always been interested in seeking a magistrate position to better the community.
“It’s somewhere you can make a difference,” he said.
The Democratic candidate pledged to hand out justice from the magistrate court bench with an even hand, no matter the case.
“I would be fair and impartial to every individual that would come before me,” Shrader said.
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Attorney David Smith holds bachelor’s degrees in history and journalism and a law degree from West Virginia University. He has worked as an attorney for the last 22 years, where he has “handled cases of everything from murder to dog bites.”
His career in the legal system, experience and education would all help him “apply them to do something called justice.”
In addition to his legal practice, Smith said he has worked in the community to “put money back into your pocket” by fighting increased utility fees from water, electrical and natural gas companies.
“As a result, the people of Mercer County are several hundred thousand dollars to the good,” he said.
“Born and bred” in Bluefield, the Dem-ocrat candidate said he knew the area, its people and its issues, inside and out of the judicial system.
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Charles “Chuck” Terry is the only Republican on the magistrate ballot, a position that guarantees him a spot on the Nov-ember general election lineup. But, he still turned out this week to speak with PikeView High School seniors who recently registered to vote.
The Navy veteran promised to be “firm, but fair” if elected and hand out rulings that both fit the crimes committed and enforce appropriate consequences for actions.
“I understand the rule of law, and I also understand that justice is something we need,” he said.
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Democrat Michael Blanken-ship was not in attendance at the forums used to compile this piece. Contact information was not available at press time.
— Contact Tammie Toler at ttoler@ptonline.net.
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