Two new judges were sworn in one day in Havre.
Janie Hedstrom, a Havre High School teacher for 32 years and currently an administrative assistant for the Havre Police Department, is the new city judge. She was appointed by 4-2 vote and sworn in by Mayor Tim Solomon at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting. Two council members were absent from the meeting.
The other judge sworn in on Tuesday was Kaydee Snipes-Ruiz as the 12th Judicial District Judge.
Hdstrom succeeds Virginia Seigel who has served as judge for five years. She resigned to accept a position with the U.S., Border Patrol’s Havre sector. She begins her job at a time when Border Patrol employees are not being paid because of the government shutdown.
Hedstrom will serve for the rest of the year. The position will be on the November ballot, and the winner will serve for the remaining two years of Seigel’s term.
Council members Ed Matter, Lindsey Ratliff, Eric Meis and Terry Lilllevedt voted for Hedstrom, while Denise Brewer and Sara McKinney voted for Josh Miller, one of two other candidates who applied for the job. Karen Swenson and Caleb Hutchins were not at the meeting.
Pciture: The three candidates for City Court judge: Miller (left), Guyant and Hedstrom (right). (Teresa Getten, The Havre Herald)
Miller works at Edward Jones Investments and had previously had internships with Montana Highway Patrol and the Havre Police Department. Later he had worked with then Cut Bank Police Department. Health issues cut short his active police work, he said.
The third candidate Scott Guyant presently works at the Student Union Building at Montana State University.
Lilletvedt said all three were good candidates and encouraged them to stay active in city affairs.
In her interview with the council before the vote, Hedstrom promised to be impartial in her decisions from the bench,
“You have to be fair,” she said.
She said she realized that the decision-making process was difficult and at one time or another both sides would be uncomfortable with the decision she makes.
She said Hill County Justice of the Peace Audrey Barger was a mentor of hers.
Hedstrom said her nephew’s wife. Tamara Barkus, is the Havre city prosecutor. Barkus represents the prosecution in most cases, she said. She some people may see that as a conflict.
She researched judicial ethics policies, and they indicated she would not have to recuse herself but would have to disclose the potential conflict and let the parties make the decision on whether to object.
She said some community resources that could be used to help defendants have been underutilized, such as the drug court program.
When Solomon told her that the job was a half-time or three-quarters time position,
“My husband said to me ‘you have never worked part-time at anything.’”
Janie Hedstrom (right)
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