The Mudcat Report Episode 15: Municipal Court

The Mudcat Report Episode 15:  Municipal Court 

HOST:  Hunter Dawkins -  Owner/Publisher of the award-winning newspaper - The Gazebo Gazette, SuperTalk Mississippi News contributor, former Congressional Staffer, former Public Relations for the Attorney General's Office

PRODUCER:  Jeff Clark - Award-Winning Journalist, Multimedia/Podcast Host, Director for the Harrison County Senior Services

GUESTS:

• Lewie "Skip" Negrotto - Pass Christian Municipal Court Judge, Harrison County Attorney
• Steve Maggio - Bay St. Louis Municipal Court Judge, Chancery Court Judicial Candidate

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:07

Welcome to the Mudcat Report, community news, politics, and culture with a local twist. Here's your host, owner and publisher of the Gazebo Gazette, Hunter Dawkins.

SPEAKER_09 0:23

Good afternoon. My name is Hunter Dawkins. I'm the host of the Mudcat Report, the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community News Podcast. This is the 15th episode sponsored by the Gazebo Gazette, Harrison County's independent newspaper, Beau Revage Resort and Casino in Biloxi, Joseph Kelly, Attorney at Law, O'Dwyer Realty Agent, who we'll hear from in just a bit, Stephanie Makewitz. And we're always in the U.S. Marine Studio. I'm here with my wonderful producer of the show and my good friend, Jeff Clark. Jeff Clark is a well-accomplished award-winning journalist as well as the director of the Harrison County Senior Services. Jeff, how are you, my friend?

SPEAKER_08 1:16

Doing great, Hunter. Just got back from Kochoa, you know, been chilling. Nah, man. I'm I'm good. I didn't go to Kochoa. I'm not I'm not 25 and I don't live in Palm Springs, California. But uh I'm good, man. Just uh getting through spring break with my wife and and and son. Uh we went to the I took Charlie to the IP Friday night to see Sticks, his favorite band, and uh just cruising along, man.

SPEAKER_09 1:43

We got a good subject here today, too, Jeff. We got municipal court, which I'm pretty sure that a lot of people don't really know everything about municipal court. I mean, they they know you go there to pay tickets, you go there to do a little bit of this, a little bit of that, but there's been, especially in Pass Christian, there's been some controversial subjects the last few years. We'll hear from one of our guests in uh in the municipal court.

SPEAKER_08 2:10

Awesome, man. Always, always great, great topics on this show, you know, keeping keeping the people informed of the things going on in the communities, which they may not know a lot about. And I appreciate that. I that's why I encourage you to uh to do this.

SPEAKER_09 2:25

Absolutely. And it's very appreciative. As you know, the Mud Cat report was based on an idea developed a few years ago from the Mississippi flathead catfish with a little tradition put into this by the blues, government, and local community news. Decades of experience will be given to adopt the idea created in this podcast. Over the last few decades, Americans have been increasingly doubtful about the outlook of government and the quality of local community news within that. The creation of the Mudcat Report is an evaluation of the local government so the community has a realistic acknowledgement of what's going on. And Jeff, we'll get to our first guest. Let's do it.

SPEAKER_04 3:16

The following is a paid advertisement by O'Duire Realty Agent Stephanie Mankowitz. Call Stephanie today at 228-563-0471 for all your Realty needs.

SPEAKER_09 3:27

And here we are talking about Realty again with our O'Dwyer Realtor Agent sponsor, Stephanie Mankowitz. Let's talk about the tips this week from Stephanie about what realtors should be doing for you.

SPEAKER_01 3:43

Thank you, Hunter. As always, it's a pleasure to review realtor topics and uh hopefully it helps people, right? So, what should we do we be doing for you, the buyer or the seller? First thing I would say is, and it's in the actual disclosure everybody signs when they work with an agent, is ensure all parties are represented fairly and honestly. It's called fair and honest dealings. And if I'm helping you or anyone out before I can even show you a house, you know, you sign that disclosure. It's not even a contract, it protects you as a person. And I'm supposed to explain that forum to you and say, hey, before we do anything real estate, I am licensed, I am liable, I am here to help you, give you fair and honest dealings, get the most I can for your house, confidentiality. I'm not gonna, if you're a seller, I'm not gonna tell people your bottom line. That's a secret. So, um, so we'll start with that. The first thing is that we are fair. And sometimes realtors get a bad rap, and sometimes there's realtors that have caused that. But uh, I know I'm one of the realtors that considers myself pretty by the book and just trying to solve the problem. I just want to be a part of the solution, right? So if you're selling a puppy or Avon, whatever it is, there's liabilities when you're selling a house times three, times ten. Okay. Alright, well, I would say uh another thing we do, we we make sure that the people who maybe they were they've never sold a home before, or they've never bought a home before. We make sure that we we through the shaky buyers or the sellers, buyers that maybe aren't a good idea to deal with, we can see problems coming before they start. When a realtor's been doing this 10 years, and if it is a buyer, we're also looking for sellers that might be a problem. You know, if we're putting in a really healthy offer and it's like full price or near full price, and then we hear there's a multiple offer situation, it doesn't mean you panic. You know, sometimes you leave your offer right where it is, even though there's other offers. So we're making we're weeding through the shakiness and the things that come up that seem unpredictable. And one of the other unpredictable things, like for sellers, is you know, they get an offer and it's got 10 contingencies on it, and the price looks great, and they say they're cash, but there's all these contingencies. So um, you know, you're not you're not really aware how much we help you until you actually deal with a good realtor. That's one thing I would say, and and we want to help them determine the value that's correct if they're selling.

SPEAKER_09 6:35

What are some of the things that determine the value?

SPEAKER_01 6:38

Oh, okay, that's a good one. Let's start with location. You know the old saying location, location, location. All right, uh, let's start with what are things selling for around you? If you're in a nice neighborhood and and you think your house is a castle, we all kind of feel like that when we love our home. Doesn't mean it's worth three times what the market says. Uh so people will hear realtors say, Well, the market says your house is worth this. And some sellers don't want to accept that. No, no, it's it's gotta be worth more. I've got a double granite countertop, I've got a fountain that shoots out gold in the backyard, and I've got three kittens with it. So I think I should get a hundred thousand more. And we have to rein people in and say, I love your kittens, I love your granite. And the last year in your neighborhood, people have paid this amount. And though, and that's where we start thinking like an appraiser. So we're like, okay, wait, we can go out two miles and look at the last sales in the last year within two miles of this property, and we can see what people have been paying. And we also look at the square footage, and that's really important, Hunter, because if your house is 2,000 square feet and you saw one sell for a million and it had 3,000 square feet, and you're like, Well, mine's worth that too. You're a thousand square feet smaller, so I can't even count that house as a comparable sale, right? When we determine the value, it is the critical, probably the most critical thing we do as your listing agent. Because that price is the first thing they see, just like the pictures. And if we priced you so high that you seem ridiculous, they're not coming. And then guess who you don't like? Me, the realtor. You don't like me anymore. So I'm kind of an upfront realtor. I think a lot of us are after we've been in a while. And we say, look, in all honesty, right now, this is what the market says your house is worth. Other things we're gonna help you with is um determining what is the inside of the house worth. Um, appraisals are gonna change next year uh across the country, and there will be different data inputs into determining what your house is worth. So we're gonna be on top of that. Um, and so if you're trying to sell on your own, you know, we can be really helpful and deal with all these unexpected things that happen when you try to uh sell on your own. Um you know, we talked about sellers a lot, so okay, I'm just gonna put this out there. If you're thinking of selling on your own, the some of the things we're doing for you, the seller, to make it easier is photos, professional photos. We pay for those. A lot of our photographers have drones. We're taking the calls because it's our number on the sign. So if it's a looky loo, it's not an ideal buyer. We've got our radar out there, so we're taking that hassle, you know, out of it.

SPEAKER_09 9:53

If you are thinking about selling on your own, maybe ask Steph. If you would like to talk to Stephanie to help determine your next steps, call today at 228-563-0471. Or call her at the office and ask for Steph at 228-452-4242. Steph has the latest information to help you get through the process with reasonable expectations. Again, that's 228-563-0471 to speak directly with Stephanie. I would like to introduce my first guest, the Pascushan Municipal Judge, Louis Skip Negrado. Judge Negrado has also been an attorney for quite a number of years, too, as well. I'll let him fill that out that blank if he wants. Judge, talk to me about the biggest misinterpretation of municipal court versus that of circuit, chancery, or county court.

SPEAKER_10 11:01

Okay. Um, I I guess the main difference is city court deals strictly with misdemeanor crimes such as speeding tickets, um, domestic violence, things of that nature, as well as violation of city ordinances. It has no civil aspect to it. In other words, no uh method for recovering or making a monetary recovery if there's no crime involved. That's the biggest difference. Chancery Court deals only with civil, but justice court, county court, and circuit court deal both civil and criminal. So we're just a, I guess a lot of people call us a traffic court, but we're a little more than that.

SPEAKER_09 11:48

That's another thing I was going to talk to you about, Judge, is that you know, there's a little bit more of just a traffic court as you have been in your time as the judge on municipal court. You have dealt with quite a number of issues involving Walmart, involving dogs, uh, involving schools. Talk to me about what um what's the biggest hurdle that you have to overcome?

SPEAKER_10 12:21

Well, I I guess there's three different areas, but all of them um pertain to misdemeanor crimes or um with regard to the school, uh part of it also deals with truancy. So let's start with the school. There for the most part, school jurisdiction is with youth court because it deals with minors. So youth court pretty much handles everything with regard to minors and and and um how you know anything that may uh involve mistreatment of minors or anything like that. There are two exceptions, and and the mo the I guess the most important are are the vaping laws, which gives you municipal court jurisdiction over um the presence and it's actually any tobacco or tobacco-like product, but and quick quick interruption, Judge.

SPEAKER_09 13:22

You know, I know that you wrote the attorney general asking about an opinion on the vape. What exactly happened with that opinion?

SPEAKER_10 13:31

Well, the way the statute is written, it it says that um it would have to have been committed with another crime. So that and it gets you start kind of splitting hairs, but at the end of the day, when there is a uh portion uh of the of the statute that talks about possession of vaping, and then there's uh another part about um compliance with um lawful orders uh and so forth. But at the end of the day, the when I asked the attorney general, explain that, what what does this part of the statute mean? And basically what they came back with was that in order for uh the vaping charge to stand, you would have to have some sort of other misdemeanor. So we don't we don't charge them with crimes um because the statute, even though it is a criminal type penalty, this it's not something that goes on their record, it's just something that they just can't do at school. That's all there is to it. Sure, sure.

SPEAKER_09 14:49

And I guess you can finish with what your earlier statement about uh the different hurdles you've had to overcome.

SPEAKER_10 14:56

Well, for example, in the truancy part of it, again, i if the child is deemed to be a delinquent or something of that nature, they they go to county court. But with regard to truancy, the legislature or department of education has the ability to um appoint or or hire what's called a student attendance officer, I think that's the terminology they use. And the it's it's kind of a catch 22. So if a child misses X amount of days of school, and I I guess it's more the flip side, you have to attend so many hours of classroom instruction in order to be able to move on to the next grade. So if you interpret that as, okay, well, how much can you miss? Well, if you miss 12 full days, you're at a point where you could be held back for failure to obtain the requisite amounts of instruction. So the Department of Education um gives us as the municipal court judge some authority to deal with truancy, in particular to deal with parents who don't make their children go to school. We can charge them with contributing to the delinquency of our minor. I say we, the the school, I mean the police department based on an affidavit from the school could do that. The problem is the only way that we have or the only way jurisdiction is conferred upon us is if the student attendance officer hired by the Department of Education sends a letter to the parents and puts them on notice that they are referring them to the court system. The problem is you have very few or not enough student attendance officers to handle the load. And by the time the department of by the time the student attendance officer gets around from school to school and looking at case by case, some of these kids have already missed 12 days.

SPEAKER_09 17:17

And so Judge, what I would I'm wondering is, do you think even with the 82 counties, do you even think there are 82 attendance officers in the state of Mississippi?

SPEAKER_10 17:29

I doubt it because it it's by school district, it's not just counties.

SPEAKER_09 17:34

Exactly.

SPEAKER_10 17:35

So, you know, and and the problem is if you look at what qualifications that you are required to have to be a student attendance officer, and then you look at what they pay them, it's just it's not fair. I mean, that that's the way I look at it. It's really not. These people have to have college degrees, they have to have certain qualifications. There are some uh criteria for officers who have similar type training, things of that nature. But at the end of the day, I think the starting pay is $26,000, $27,000 a year. So it's kind of hard to keep them, you know, and to keep qualified people. Um, but you know, we do what we can. We we try to let the, you know, we try to give the parents a heads up, say, hey, you know, your your kids missed some school, and we need to kind of figure out what's going on. And and the reason I say that is because, for example, in the past Christian school district, um, in order to have a you can have a legitimate excuse, a doctor's excuse, which will erase any absence. So it won't be counted as an absence. Though you're not there, it's still not counted as an absence. And in past Christianity, and the parents actually have what they call five parent days. So, for example, your child is not feeling well, uh you don't really need to take them to the doctor, but they don't need to be going to school. They have a fever or strep throat or something, uh well, strep throat would require a doctor, but fever or they're just not feeling well. Sure. The parent, the parent can can you know issue a note and and get it to the school that says, Look, my son or daughter was sick today and I didn't take them to the doctor, but I want to use my parent excuse. Well, if you have, if your child ends up with 12 days and the parent is still sitting holding five parent excuses, had they known about it, had they used them, we wouldn't be in a critical point where they're at that where they're at the point where they might not be able to move on to the next grade. So we try to, you know, alert the parents of what's going on. We try to get them to come in. It's more of a voluntary thing than anything, and and and let them know, hey, this is where you are, this is what the law is, you know, this is what the handbook says. Have you been using your um your parent excuses? And and what we found out is the vast majority of the time, these kids end up with 10, 12 absences. The parents have never used the uh their five excuses. Um, they've been giving doctors' notes to the children to bring to school. The children never turn them in. So there were a lot of administrative reasons why these kids had had numerous absences that could have been alleviated early on in the game had the parents just understood how to use their parent excuses and and to make sure that things they were sending with the children were getting um actually getting turned in. And and so we have we've given them the information and the tools, hopefully, that we don't get into a situation where we have uh kids that can't promote. And you know, thankfully, because of great school system we have and this and how it works for us, we have one of the uh Pas Christian School District is one of the lowest truancy rates in this entire state. And we haven't had we haven't had a a student attendance officer for two years. So, you know, when it takes a village to you know to raise to raise a kid, and and so this village works well together.

SPEAKER_09 21:15

Tell me if there's still a problem with uh routine theft at Super Walmart and Pascan. I know you were working on it, and I believe you were successful uh a year and a plus ago about getting a defense attorney along with a prosecutor to be able to hold uh the trials in this in the municipal court. But just talk to me about if that has solved some of the problem, at least that the there was with theft at the Super Walmart.

SPEAKER_10 21:51

Well, it it it really is is kind of goes along with with the big picture that you see and you hear about on the news all the time. If you do not inform. Force laws, people are going to break them because they have there's no consequence, they have there's no deterrent. Initially, when when I first took the bench, I think they were getting 70, close to 70 um shoplifting charges a month. And that was because for years prior to Walmart deciding to start enforcing the law, they just didn't do anything about it. I don't know if it was an economic decision or what they did, but it was rapid. I mean the shoplifting was happening all the time. Um when we took when I took the bench and started to realize what was going on, and and Walmart actually did a started to do a really good job of of prosecuting these cases, um, we're now down to maybe two a month, three a month. But you know, if if you're gonna impose a sentence, a jail sentence, you really the the person needs to be represented. And so we would we got permission from the city council or the board of all of them to uh put some money in our budget to appoint public defenders for these people. Uh and let me tell you, the the word on the street gets around just as quickly that, hey, don't go to Walmart and pass Christian because you're gonna they're enforcing the law and they're appointing you a lawyer and um they've got you on video and you don't stand a very good chance of winning. That word gets out on the street just as fast as hey, you go to Walmart because there's nobody enforcing the law and you can walk out there with anything you want. So it didn't take long once the word got out on the street that people that Walmart was actually enforcing the law and we were prosecuting the law that uh people quit coming to Walmart and and stealing.

SPEAKER_09 23:52

Interesting, interesting. Final question for you, Judge. What, if there are any ordinances that are that have become the biggest problem for you guys in the city court?

SPEAKER_10 24:09

Um I mean the one we see most of all, well, there's really two that we see a lot of um dilapidated properties where they try to get owners to or derelict properties where they try to get owners to clear up the properties and uh they they try and try, and the code office gets no relief, and so they have to take them to court. And the other one, I I think the one that we see most of all is the the dog ordinance, where you have animals running at large or you have animals not being treated properly, and so forth. I think those are the two uh city ordinances. You know, uh the the one that that really gets to me is the the law that we don't have. And and what I mean by that is in order for a municipality to be able to run radar on on a non-city street or county highway or state highway or a county road or county designated road, you have to have a certain number of citizens.

SPEAKER_09 25:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_10 25:12

So for example, I don't know how many Long Beach has, but they're over the threshold.

SPEAKER_09 25:16

Yeah, I think it's 15,000 in the state legislature.

SPEAKER_10 25:20

They change it, they kind of change it a little bit, but unfortunately they're going in the wrong direction. Um they need to they need to um lower that number, or instead of worrying about population, they should look at traffic count. For example, we have highway 90 that runs right through the middle of our town. Physically, geographically and the way this town's laid out, we'll never meet that population status. I mean, if we do, I just don't think we ever will. But we see as many cars coming down Highway 90 as Long Beach does, you know, Long Beach is can run radar. You know, I was talking to um our Department of Public Safety uh director, Mr. Tyndall, the other day, uh, and and you know, I didn't realize that they were pushing to allow sheriff's deputies to run radar and it was shot down in the legislature. It it it's all about safety, you know, and it's all about uh uh protecting the people. You can literally sit or be driving in traffic going through Long Beach and everybody's going 45 miles an hour because they know that around the next corner there might be a police car sitting there running radar, and as soon as they hit Walmart, they're wide open until they cross the Bay Bridge.

SPEAKER_09 26:42

Wow. Wow. Well, Judge, we appreciate you. Is there any way that uh our audience can get in touch with you if they have any need for uh an attorney question or anything of such?

SPEAKER_10 26:55

Sure. I mean they can call the I I don't know the number right offhand, but you can certainly go to the city website and there's a uh um phone number there. Um also our clerk uh who does a wonderful job by the way. Uh she has an email address that that you can send an email to, and I'll be more than happy to answer any questions that that uh that people may have. Thank you guys for the right.

SPEAKER_09 28:16

Our final guest is Bay St. Louis, municipal judge and family law attorney, Stephen Maggio. Judge, what are the largest concerning issues from the Bay Municipal Court, if you don't mind me asking?

SPEAKER_11 28:34

Well, um, I think we have a couple of issues that uh are probably most pressure for us. Um you know, and I don't think we're alone in that. Um you know, our community has issues with uh folks with involved with drugs and um some domestic violence. Um and um, you know, those cases kind of fall into a different category than the mobile just routine traffic defense. Crossover into uh areas of mental health and um of course treatment, um family uh counseling and services that we need to provide. Um so I'm happy to say we do have um some resources in our community um resource that we have, and um of course CASA. And um and then um we have the Gulf Coast Women's Center for Nonviolence, which is always front and center when it comes to questions uh of cases dealing with domestic violence.

SPEAKER_09 29:45

Judge, does the casino ever have any concerning issues that arise within the municipal court?

SPEAKER_11 29:55

Yeah, we you know there are uh there are issues that uh are unique uh to their industry.

SPEAKER_09 30:01

Um and by this, of course, Judge, we're meaning Hollywood casino in Bay St. Louis.

SPEAKER_11 30:07

They're the only way in Bay St. Louis. Um and um they already are very um circumstance that we have some issues with um people attempting to break into cars into the in the parking lot. Um just orderly kind of that kind of uh charges that come out of there. Um but I am going to say that they are quite delighted in helping us to investigate the cases of working. Um so in that regard, it's on a uh a level that doesn't activate it helps to just resolve problems at the uh lowest level possible rather than uh them becoming a bigger problem. So I don't think it's necessarily a huge problem, but that's I think in many ways because of their cooperation with their professionals.

SPEAKER_09 31:25

Has there been any concerns uh lately about breaking any city ordinances in the bay due to the large downtown business population growing in in Bay St. Louis, right down there off the beach?

SPEAKER_11 31:45

Yeah, um so we are we are experiencing some upturn in code enforcement cases. Uh and so I I do see some uptick in that. Primarily, though, um it's mostly been for trying to um make sure that uh people bring their properties up to carbon code. We are looking at um a re sort of or amendment of the zoning ordinances in the city, uh city wide comprehensive plan. And that's going to address some of the things that we're dealing with, which is uh some people have issues with the short-term rental aspect of things. Um we are trying to work with property owners because we understand they do have constitutional rights to the use of their property, at the same time being sensitive to them primarily the residential community. So we're trying to strike that balance between we want uh people to come and enjoy themselves here. We are very much a tourist in rich, but we also have to be careful that we don't uh degrade things to the point where we lose the character of our neighbors that we all value so much. Um I don't mean just from a property standpoint, I mean it's a that's a community here. So I don't think any of us want to see that go away. This is a special place. So yeah, we are seeing that, but we're also seeing one color for white property. And of course we're careful with everybody helping people get the property. But yeah, total portion is something we're seeing more and more often issues. And as development continues to grow, we're going to probably see more of it, but uh just what of course I don't think some of those issues, so I just uh works for the time.

SPEAKER_09 34:15

Well, that's a great segue question, Judge, from a correlation. That's what correlation does the municipal court have with city council.

SPEAKER_11 34:29

Um well, I mean, in the traditional sense, the city council, or for lack of better term, is the legislative breach. The court department is the judicial branch of the very local, very uh very uh street line street level, so to speak, you know, where the river meets the road. Um and so uh but I I will say that there's good communication. I when I had uh issue with making um well, what did the council meet when they passed this or what did they can't watch the thing? We have a very good automatic communication with the council directly to the office and the mayor's office. And uh mayor, council members, community members, people who have an interest. I wanted to sit down and have a discussion because I just find that a lot of times if people can just get the questions answered. Um not that I'm not gonna advisory opinion, but I mean it's not just some guidance as to how I think ordinance should be enforced. Um what people want to know what the limits of the court's authority are. So we try to educate people constantly as to what we can and in some sense what we can't do. That way we prevent duplication of effort and waste of time.

SPEAKER_09 35:58

How much do you have a I mean, if if any, if you had a conversation with the attorney general's office just to make uh to try to understand what's going on in these cases, at least for the the hometown, for the municipal court, so you can make rulings based on what is the state feelings on those cases.

unknown 36:24

Well, not much at all.

SPEAKER_11 36:27

Um the the throwing I would I'm glad to say a note uh attorney general finch, uh, and she's always been fairly responsive to any inquiry that we've made. Her office will also uh if the council uh needs an advisory opinion, um, or even if uh I think the citizen needs an advisory opinion, they can ask attorney for an uh attorney general's opinion, they've been those quite regularly. They're not binding on the court, uh, but they are nonetheless insightful. They do provide some insight as to maybe what the uh statewide interpretation of something that's not the future. But for the most part, uh to us locally, they I think they believe you know it's the council's job to pass the ordinance and it's its job to enforce it, it's my job to enforce them. So I think respect um arrangement. But uh yeah, anytime uh a legislator, council member, city employee, department needs uh guidance, they can always seek an attorney council opinion. Uh the courts typically don't do that, but we are aware of the opinions. I meet them regularly, uh, because of course it it does offer me some uh viewpoint that I might not have considered uh that somebody else uh would be talking about.

SPEAKER_09 38:00

Judge, uh final thing. I understand you have entered your name in the hat for the Chancery Court judge on the coast here. Would you want to talk about your intentions and uh you know just give us your pitch?

SPEAKER_11 38:17

Well, thank you. Yeah, sure. Um I have. Um I've I've qualified to run for change report judge for any kind of conversation county. So it's something that I've uh been considering for quite a long time. I uh my practice is very heavily concentrated in that area. Um, and I think I'm well qualified or at least to prepare if I've been a district report judge for 30 years. I also served as a youth court referee, uh, which uh is the uh person who makes the decisions in youth court in Hancock County uh for several years. And uh for a while I was a family master at change report, which we assisted the change report judges in making decisions in child support cases, child custody cases, and the divorce cases. So they have a depth of traditional experience. Um I've handled several thousand changes court cases from start to even all the way up to the United States. And um but beyond that, I think one of the things that has given me a unique perspective in this area is my wife and I we served for 20 years as foster parents. We have I think 54 children in the years. And you know, it's that brings a different perspective to things, you know. You know, lots of people helped with children in crisis and whatnot, and truly apart all their efforts, and they all fulfill a certain role. And the role we were called to fulfill was actually bringing the children home with us and taking care of them, detoxing when infants who were more addicted, helping children uh take their first steps, helping children learn to read, getting to school. We helped educate more than a few of the children. Um we sent them to Catholic school with our children. Uh one of our children was just uh at the Catholic Church this year. He's got two children of his own and a college degree that helped him get his uh diplomat for successful. He's a wonderful young man. So we've had a lot of uh wonderful experiences. We've had some that worked better sweet, so to speak, but I think that's part of the game too. So I think that's what I bring to the table is uh I think I have the professional experience, but more than personal experience dealing with these cases and what families go through with their classes. I just feel like I have to offer that wisdom and that experience. It's just something you're not gonna talk about in the law book. It's just about being comes from doing it and gaining that experience when it gets that money.

SPEAKER_09 41:16

Before we let you go, Judge, um talk to me really quickly about the state legislature made the ruling, I believe it was last year, on the Chantery Court here on the coast. It included Stone County, wasn't it Harrison, Hancock, and Stone? And then as of this election cycle, it's just going to be Harrison and Hancock. Am I correct about that?

SPEAKER_11 41:43

Yeah. Um by law, the legislature is required uh every, I think, I think every 10 years, maybe, but I I stand I I I can be corrected on that, but they have to re-evaluate the district and the allocation of resources um throughout the state. And so, yeah, the decision was made to redraw some of the districts, um, particularly some here along the coast. Um, and our district was one of them. Um, the idea was trying to more evenly balance out the caseload amongst the judges, and to um also align courts uh that because of their geographical um uh restition, uh the the cultural aspects of that particular county might be more closely aligned with a different county. Um, you know, of course, both county and Harrison County have been uh linked for many, many, many years. Um, but it was just uh Harrison County, the caseload in the Harrison County change report system, which also kind of Hancock County, um, we are I think the second biggest, or not biggest, but busiest work district in the state. And there are probably close to 4,000 new findings in our district every year. And so when you have four judges who are covering four courthouses in three different counties, um, you can see where um if something can be done to maybe spread that load a little bit better, it would be helpful. So um that was the decision the legislature made was to um spin Stone County off into a district with uh Forest County and Perry County, which are Jackson County, and then forest county to take it out. So um those are a little bit more geographically aligned and um probably a little bit more balanced with the case mode, but uh there's a tremendous uh amount of work that goes on the change report. I think it was the right decision.

SPEAKER_09 44:39

Judge, um, just let us know all how uh we can uh reach you if we have a legal question or if there's some matter that uh we need to discuss. We thank you, Judge.

unknown 45:51

Well, we thank y'all. Thank you very much. Y'all have a wonderful evening. I'm sorry we couldn't get the Zoom link working, but uh next year.

SPEAKER_09 45:58

You take care.

SPEAKER_06 46:00

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SPEAKER_05 46:29

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SPEAKER_09 47:18

The Gazebo Gazette is Harrison County's only independent newspaper, publishing news from Gulfport to Bay St. Louis every Friday. I is Hunter Dawkins, owner of the Gazebo Gazette. If you're looking for local news without the hassle of sorting through story after digital story, log on to thegazeboGazette.com. Add your name to the digital audience of 250,000 plus coast residents who already know where to find the stories that matter to them. We gratefully appreciate you listening to this podcast. Jeff, we always thank you for the help and the equipment and everything you do for this. It was a great show, and I think it's only going to get better. Make sure you follow us on the Gazebo Gazette, where the podcast will be posted next week. And also, Jeff, there's tons of good quality information we got for all of the subscribers, the people that not only subscribe and listen. This kind of gives you a better idea of what's going on with the municipal court.

SPEAKER_08 48:22

That's it, man. And uh I hope I'm never in there because I don't if I'm in municipal court, it means I've gotten a speeding ticket. Um especially in Long Beach. Um, you know, we're available in all the podcast platforms. You can find us on Spotify, Apple Music, iHeartPodcast, Amazon. We're listed in all the podcast directories. Uh, if you got a favorite podcast spot that you you can't find us in, uh shoot us an email, let us know, and we'll we'll try to get listed there.

SPEAKER_09 48:51

And it's important, Jeff, as you say, that the people download it and get write some reviews and things as such, because we really we really want to be able to broadcast all across the coast and all across the state and virtually all across the world.

SPEAKER_08 49:07

You know, and I don't get into uh logistics and and statistics with with our listeners, but the this podcast is doing really well. You've you've had a you've come come out of the gate strong. Um, but you know, drop us some reviews, give us likes, subscribe, uh, do all that stuff because it only helps us uh you know gain more momentum, so to speak, on the podcast platforms.

SPEAKER_09 49:33

So that's right, that's right. And additionally, you know, the Mudcast report is listed on every single podcast, as you mentioned, Jeff, and Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio. But uh no, Jeff, we really do appreciate everything you do for us, and uh, we look forward to keeping it going. Cool, man. Signing out, this is Hunter Dawkins, Mudcat Report. Now you know the rest of the local story. Good night.