MINDEN - East Fork Justice Jim EnEarl will be asking voters to keep him on the bench this November.
EnEarl, who previously was in law enforcement in Orange County, Calif., and Douglas County, was elected to his first term in 1984. Since then, he said, the court has made those convicted of crimes more accountable.
EnEarl, 54 is married to Douglas County Public Administrator and Public Guardian Lynn EnEarl. They have two daughters, Lisa Apple, 20, and Christina Pulsipher, 20, who are students at Western Nevada Community College.
EnEarl moved from Orange County in 1977 and now lives in the Johnson Lane area.
He said one improvement in the East Fork Justice Court is consistent collection of fines levied.
"The fines for each crime have remained stagnant - they haven't gone up - but fines collected have gone up from $350,000 or $400,000 to around $800,000.
"Some of it goes to the state, to the county and some goes to the administrative assessment fund, but we are very persistent. The staff has been excellent in working with me to bring about fine collection," EnEarl said.
The way he does that, he said, is rejecting payment plans which other Nevada courts allow.
When convicted persons are given a fine in court, they are also given a court date to appear if they cannot pay the fine on the appointed date. If they don't pay and they don't show up to explain why they didn't pay, EnEarl issues a bench warrant within 15 minutes.
EnEarl said he has slowed drug- and alcohol-related offenses by sentencing people to in-patient treatment programs.
"A vast majority of spousal battery, DUI and crimes of petty property theft are drug-related offenses and that's where the department of alternative sentencing comes into play," EnEarl said. "They will spend some time in jail and then I will send them to the in-patient lock-up program."
EnEarl said he believes drug and alcohol abuse is the largest problem facing people - especially people in his court - today.
"The calendar is consumed with substance abuse issues. If you go through and poll the people, I bet 90 percent of them will relate their crime to some sort of substance abuse issue. If you take a poll in the jail, I bet you'd come away with the same percentage," he said.