Jerry Leonard ran for an open Magistrate Court judgeship four years ago and lost. He is back this time around, taking on longtime Judge Kaye Cope and two other challengers.
Asked why he’s interested in serving in the court, Leonard said, “I’ve been in the insurance business 36 years. I’ve had people with claims from $25 tow bills to million dollar claims when the blizzard came through. You learn real fast in the insurance business that there’s no such thing as an unimportant claim, and it’s really the same in Magistrate Court.
“I don’t care the size of it, if it’s just a small claim or a large one, it’s very important to the person that filed it, and everybody wants their claim to be handled promptly, courteously and fairly regardless of who they are. I think I can do a good job.”
The other two challengers to Cope are Phillip Croy and Don Allen Garrett. The position is nonpartisan, and the election is Tuesday. The court handles civil claims of $15,000 or less, certain misdemeanor criminal offenses, county ordinance violations and some deposit account fraud cases. Judges can issue arrest and search warrants, and the court handles preliminary hearings and summonses.
Born and raised in Murray County, Leonard has lived in Whitfield County for the past 21 years and is married to the former Tina Rice of Chatsworth. They have two children, Derek, 27, who graduated from Dalton Public Schools and Georgia Tech and received a master’s degree from the University of Mississippi and is the recreation director at North Georgia College, and Colten, 15, who will be a sophomore at Northwest Whitfield High School. The Leonards are members and attend Temple Baptist Church in Dalton.
Asked what he would bring to the Magistrate Court position, Leonard said, “Being a people person, I think I’ll be both courteous and fair to all parties and use common sense in the decisions that I make. I’ll never go in and prejudge anyone. One of the sayings I have is ‘Who you are or who you are not, what you have or have not, will not play a role in the decisions I make in the Magistrate Court.’ I’m going to treat everybody fairly like I would like to be treated.”
He said, “Every decision I make I’m going to pray about it. I’ll ask God for wisdom and knowledge because I’m affecting folks’ lives. I’m sort of a people person, too, people will not be intimidated when they walk in the room with me. I’ll be someone to guide them through the process.”
Leonard is a 30-year-member of Sumach Masonic Lodge 55 F&AM, past president of the Murray County Jaycees and past officer of the Dalton-Whitfield County Sertoma Club. He said he has coached numerous youth baseball and basketball teams in Whitfield and Murray counties and in Dalton.
Leonard promises to be “accessible and available.”
“My phone number’s been in the phone book and it will stay in the phone book. My cellphone number’s on the back of my cards and my cellphone number will not change,” he said. “I’m not going to be a hard person to run down or find if people have questions, because you’re serving the public first. Those people are my boss, the voters are, and I’ll strive to do the very best job I can.”
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Jerry Leonard
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