Judge McCreight – One Year Into The Job
By Greg Ritchie
Messenger Reporter
HOUSTON COUNTY – The Messenger has followed with interest the career of Houston County Precinct One Justice of the Peace Mike McCreight. A sergeant in the Houston County Sheriff’s Department before being elected to the post last year, McCreight is one of the younger elected officials in Houston County and has now completed his first year in the position of “JP.”
After a long campaign, spending hours meeting and speaking with people, McCreight would eventually win almost three-quarters of the vote, replacing retiring Judge Clyde Black in the role.
The JP position is a crucial one in any county and much more complex than many might suspect. Some refer to them as “the people’s judge,” since they are elected locally. They perform marriages, inquests, set bond for accused criminals, process evictions, work with local law enforcement and jails – and other tasks – too many to mention.
McCreight spent the first part of his term in training, learning the do’s and don’ts – and it’s a long list. The judges have to take each case and analyze the law, working hard to show no favor either towards the accused or law enforcement.
He soon came to learn there was one big difference between his former position in law enforcement and the JP position: one can use discretion, the other must follow the letter of the law.
“When I was in law enforcement, you could use judgment. Not everyone goes to jail, not everyone gets a ticket at a traffic stop,” McCreight explained. “Here it’s different, you have to go by the law, no exceptions.”
He admitted it has taken him a while to get used to everyone calling him “Judge,” even longtime colleagues and friends, but he knows it’s a sign of respect for the position. Growing up in Houston County, McCreight knows so many people it makes one important part of job much harder for him, personally.
“Unfortunately, we have done a lot of inquests this year, and you deal with people on a different level than I did at the sheriff’s office,” McCreight said. “For most of these families, this is the worst time of their life. They’ve never dealt with anything like this and they’re at the lowest point of their life when they lose a family member. That’s the toughest part.”
McCreight tries to help those family members as much as he can, as he understands the sudden loss of a loved one can be shocking and most people are not sure what to do or what comes next.
Evictions are another part of the job he has to face all too often, empathizing with people, but sworn to uphold the law, making the tough decisions while feeling for the real people those decisions will affect.
McCreight spoke with The Messenger after returning from yet another training session, which he said helps him deal with the many cases that come before him, finding reading and studying the law an important tool in coming to fair and lawful decisions.
McCreight worked with Houston County Commissioners Court to add a part-time clerk to the office, helping longtime employee Tresea Land deal with the mountains of paperwork stemming from every speeding ticket, warrant and other case before the court. The county has worked to save time and resources by holding some cases by video conference, avoiding having to move defendants or even inmates from other locations, saving deputies’ from transporting them around the county.
For McCreight, the job is challenging, both because he is working on a different end of law enforcement and because some of the cases before him are hard, especially during the holidays.
“I love the job and try to do the right thing every day. I try to help people and for me it can be tough, because today for example, we had an eviction case, right at Christmastime,” McCreight sighed. “But you have to go by the law.”
McCreight works closely with JP for Precinct Two, Ronnie Jordan, his old boss at the sheriff’s office. Jordan is a no-nonsense guy who terrified him and his fellow deputies, back in the day. Now colleagues, the two work together to keep the law in the county fair and help keep its citizens safe.
He learned long ago to try and leave the job at work each day, when he goes home – although he admits it’s not always easy, but interacting and trying to help victims’ families has made that part of the job a little easier.
“I don’t want to say you get ‘hardened,’ but in law enforcement, we saw some of the worst stuff you can see, and it’s tough,” McCreight admitted. “ We recently had another inquest and I spoke with the victim’s husband the other day. He called me again this morning. I had to talk to him that night his wife died. I was happy to at least reassure him the county is doing all it can and told him to call me, anytime.”
Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]
