A Republican Candidates Forum, organized by the Brown County Republican Party, took place Thursday evening at Victory Life Church. The event featured introductory and closing comments, along with question-and-answer sessions, with candidates for County Commissioner in Precincts 1 and 3, and Justice of the Peace in Precinct 1.
The following are the excerpts from the questions answered by the candidates for Justice of the Peace in Precinct 1 – Mitchell Jacobson, Scotty Burke and Dustin Larremore – who are replacing Doug Hurt, as he resigned from the position after six years in 2023.
Mitchell Jacobson
Why do you want to be a Justice of the Peace?
The easiest way to answer that is now that I’m no longer serving as a state trooper here, there’s always a void in somebody once you dive off into the profession of law enforcement and serving the people of your county. It’s something you’re called to do, but if Judge Hurt had not left this position I would not be crazy enough to go up against him. The opportunity presented itself, the opportunity to get back into serving the people of Brown County and not having to leave every other week to spend time away from my family for days on end.
Mitchell Jacobson’s Bio Page on Brownwoodnews.com
Scotty Burke
Why do you want to be a Justice of the Peace?
Being in law enforcement has made me the person that I am. The opportunity presented itself, I never really thought about it before. After the opportunity came to light and I considered it, in 27 years I never testified in JP court. That next week I got subpoenaed for a ticket that I wrote to appear in JP court. JP Court is less formal than district court or federal court, there are still procedures to be followed, but it was a little bit more laid back and informal. After the trial I thought to myself I could do that job. It had never been anything I honestly ever thought of before, but the opportunity presented itself and I think it’d be a way to end my career and still be able to serve the citizens here in a different capacity.
Scotty Burke’s Bio Page on Brownwoodnews.com
Dustin Larremore
Why do you want to be a Justice of the Peace?
You need to have a good understanding of each situation. I’m not in law enforcement like these guys, never done that. But I think you do need to be open minded, look at each situation, understand what the situation is and make an educated decision on that. With the courts, it’s not always black and white, it’s sometimes gray, and you have to understand that and use you intelligence to do that. I think I have that, I have a successful business, but I will be there 24 hours a day if I need to be with the JP office, and I think I bring a lot to the table having run businesses, being in leadership, and understanding people. I think I would be great a JP. I do not know all the ins and outs of the JP office, I’ll be very honest, but I do want to learn. I try to educate myself every day with any situation that comes to my table. When the opportunity occurred with Doug Hurt retiring I said that was interesting, but I would have never wanted to go up against Doug Hurt. We need to honor that past but we also need to look forward to the future of that office.