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July 28, 2012

Candidate profiles: Baxter says why make a change

Jamie Jones jamiejones@daltoncitizen.com

— Sidney Baxter has served Whitfield County as a justice of the peace and magistrate judge for almost 44 years. He’d like to make that 48 years.

“I feel like we need to keep a good person in there, someone that looks after the interests of the people, somebody that’s got integrity, dependability, training, dedicated to Whitfield County and has respect for the court and respect for others,” Baxter said. “I feel like people need someone there that actually knows how to run it, how it’s going and what to do.”

Baxter faces retired Dalton police officer Randy Evans for the magistrate judge post in Tuesday’s election. The position is nonpartisan. Baxter has served as a magistrate judge for the past 30 years and before that served 14 years as a Whitfield County justice of the peace.

In an interview with The Daily Citizen, Evans said the magistrate position needs a change and questioned whether elected officials who have served for an extended time perform as well as they did when they started.

“I think you’ll find out I’ll work a whole lot harder than he would,” Baxter said. “You can ask the voters and let them decide if it’s time for a change or not. If they want to run for office, that’s the first thing they want to holler, ‘Let’s make a change.’ It would probably be a change, but why have a change for the worst when you just stay on and have it better?”

Evans also said Baxter has not kept up with technology and remarked that Baxter doesn’t have a computer at his desk.

“We’re getting the most out of technology in our office,” Baxter said. “Even my grandson’s got a computer and he sure isn’t a judge. Some of that technology doesn’t make a judge. You’ve got to have common sense to go with it. If you don’t have that common sense, you’re sitting out in left field.”

Before becoming a magistrate judge, Baxter worked in the quality control nuclear division at Combustion Engineering Inc. He is a native of Whitfield County and attended Berry schools in Rome.

He has been married to Eloise Knight Baxter for 63 years. They have three children: Gary Baxter, Gloria Kirkland and Gail Bonifacious (deceased). They also have five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Magistrate Court handles civil claims of $15,000 or less, some misdemeanor criminal offenses, county ordinance violations and some deposit account fraud cases. It also handles preliminary hearings and summonses, and judges can issue arrest and search warrants.

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