For the August meeting of the Carbon County Historical Society, the group took a field trip to the Seventh District Courthouse for a tour. The evening also included a discussion with local judges regarding the history of the court and the relocation to the new building.
The Seventh District Court includes Carbon, Emery, Grand and San Juan counties. To begin the tour, the group was led through the building and up the stairs to one of the courtrooms. There, they joined the judges that were present. This included Judge Jeremiah Humes and Judge George Harmond, who are both active judges.
Also present were Judge Scott Johansen and Judge Douglas Thomas, who have retired. The members of the society did not waste time asking the judges a myriad of questions, in which the judges were only too happy to participate and answer.
Questions and discussion topics included how many seats are on the jury, and for which cases the number changes. The judges also took time to talk the society members through the general procedure of jury questioning.
“Nothing is simple because we have to do everything transparently,” stated Judge Harmond.
It was stated that becoming a judge is a very competitive process. Additionally, citizens are the only ones that are able to “fire” a judge through voting. However, if a judge’s actions are egregious and cast doubt that the public may have in the court system, further action may also be taken.
“When I was an attorney, I was begging the judge to see my way. When I was a judge, I was right,” joked Judge Johansen.
The society continued on the tour while also garnering a wealth of information from those in the court system. The society gave a special thank you to Travis Erickson and the staff for making the tour possible, as well as the judges for their time.
