Lawyer, paralegal square off for justice position
By CHERY SABOL
The Daily Inter Lake
Columbia Falls paralegal Jerry O'Neil and Whitefish attorney Mark Sullivan were the top vote-getters among four candidates for Flathead County Justice of the Peace in the June primary.
Now they face off Nov. 7 for the judge job that will expand from part time to full time in January. Incumbent Dale Trigg is not running for re-election.
Sullivan and O'Neil are competing for the Department 2 position; in a separate race, incumbent Justice of the Peace David Ortley is challenged by Shawn Guymon for Department 1.
The Flathead County commissioners briefly changed the requirements for the position last spring, requiring the judge to be a lawyer.
O'Neil challenged that and the commissioners withdrew the requirement.
Sullivan said he believes the justice of the peace should be an attorney; O'Neil said there is no reason to change the requirements now.
O'Neil said he worries that if he doesn't "win the position and do a good job in the position, they're going to put it back" as an attorney-only job.
O'Neil said Flathead County has a long history of nonlawyers who served as justices of the peace, including Orville Fredenberg and Mary Riedel. He said he would follow their leads.
It's not that he doesn't know the law, he said: Among the cases he has worked on was a million-dollar verdict in a six-day trial in Idaho.
"You don't do that without some idea of the rules of court procedure and rules of evidence," he said.
He said he has worked for more than 20 years helping people even though he doesn't have a law degree. And for years O'Neil has tangled with the state legal establishment over who can practice law in Montana.
O'Neil would like to establish a night court, as Kalispell Municipal Judge Heidi Ulbricht did, holding court every couple of weeks for working people who can't make it in during the day.
He also wants to have someone who will speak to the public from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., rather than having no access after 4 p.m., as it is now.
To streamline the court's work, he would ask attorneys to submit briefs on legal issues in advance of hearings.
Attorneys also would prepare judgments for him to sign, based on his rulings in court.
O'Neil said his people skills, years of working in the legal system, and his experience as a mediator would help him serve the public well as justice of the peace.
Sullivan, though, said Flathead County "absolutely" needs an attorney in the position.
"We don't have time to train someone to do a lawyer's work," he said. "That's what law school is for."
The cases that come through Justice Court can be complex, Sullivan said.
His law background in family, landlord-tenant, personal injury, property and real-estate cases, as well as criminal defense and prosecution, will equip him for the cases that pass through the court, he said.
"The volume and kinds of cases in Flathead County are such that no longer can we get the job done with somebody who is not a lawyer," Sullivan said. It worked in the simpler times of the 1970s, but "those days are long past."
He does agree with O'Neil that night court is necessary and has said so since he announced his candidacy.
He also advocates "treatment court" to reduce repeat offenses involving chemical dependency.
Sullivan cited his 17 years of legal experience, along with his background as a blue-collar worker, that help him "identify with people who are trying to make ends meet.
"I assure the voters I will work tirelessly to treat each individual with dignity and respect," he said.
He said the public may be frustrated by the current pace of Justice Court.
"Having two judges there is going to make a huge difference - two full-time judges who know how to do the job," Sullivan.
He said he believes he should be one of them.
Reporter Chery Sabol may be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at csabol@dailyinterlake.com