KINGWOOD — Keep an open mind.
That’s one of the most important things for anyone elected to judge their fellows, retiring Preston County Magistrate Eugene Jenkins said.
After 12 years on the bench, Jenkins chose not to seek re-election this year and to join his wife, Joan, in retirement.
Before his time on the bench, Jenkins spent 16 years on the hot seat, as a member of the Preston County Board of Education. He also worked full-time in the family businesses, Jenkins Trucking and Sons, East View Trucking and East View Farms.
But in 2008, the coal business “went flat. It quit in Preston County,” and Jenkins started looking ahead. He wasn’t sure what he would do next, but Joan told him to put it in the Lord’s hands.
He was getting up at 2:30 a.m. then to go to work.
“I took the Bible with me, sitting there waiting, and I just opened it up,” Jenkins recalled. “And I didn’t look for specific places, I just opened it up and I even forget what chapter and verse it was, but it mentioned something about judges. And that’s how it came about.”
In his first election, magistrates were still elected by party. Now they are nonpartisan. Jenkins sailed through the primary but wasn’t sure he could beat a popular Democrat in the general.
Election night he was about 245 votes behind and went out to collect campaign signs.
“All of the precincts had come in except my end (of the county),” he said. “Lo and behold, my end of the county came through, and I won by a pretty good majority.”
He’s had many memorable days in court over the years, but the most memorable was when the All Good Festival was held in the county.
Jenkins was on call. About 6:30 p.m. the 911 center called him to work.
“They were bringing people in by the busload,” he said. Fellow Magistrate Lew Ault called to offer help, which he accepted.
“We started at 8:30 Friday night and we were there until something like 6, 7, 8 o’clock the next morning on Saturday,” Jenkins remembered. “We came back out on Saturday night and I was there all night until Sunday morning.”
They did a total of 92 felony arrests during that one festival.
Of course, few of those who appear before a magistrate are glad to be there.
“If you don’t have an enemy, you’re not doing your job,” Jenkins said.
And he worked very hard at his job.
“I always go in (to the courtroom) with an unbiased and impartial mindset,” he said. “It’s hard to do when they’re first arrested because you hear one side, from the criminal complaint. And you can’t hear the other side unless they want to plead guilty.”
And use commonsense, Jenkins said. “Do not lose patience because that person’s livelihood is at stake.”
Some people plead guilty to get it over with, he said, Far more enter into plea bargains. He’s only had three or four jury trials during his time on the bench.
The legislature sets penalties that magistrates can levy, which include no more than one year in jail. He didn’t like to send people to jail but did when it was necessary.
Some people have come back and thanked him for helping them onto the right path. But Jenkins has noticed a troubling statistic in Preston crime.
Drugs and respect
“Just about every crime deals with drugs. One way or another, it goes back to drugs. To support their habits, they will shoplift. They will do breaking and entering. And even like the domestics, a lot of it is over drugs. That’s society now.”
Over the years, he’s also made many friends in law enforcement and the legal community, and he will miss them.
“They show you respect. But one thing is respect in this county is at an all-time low, I think, and discipline, it’s out the window. There’s nothing there. And pride in what we have.”
All the roadside trash and dumps are proof of that, he said.
Magistrate P.L. Grimm worked as Jenkins’ clerk from the time he was elected until three years ago, when she was elected as a magistrate.
“Eugene’s a kind person. Very nice. He was always good to me,” Grimm said.
TV and Texas
The rest of this winter Jenkins plans to watch westerns on TV. This summer he’s going to help out on the family’s 18-acre farm. Joan wants to go to Texas, but those plans are COVID dependent.
“We’re not going to just sit down and relax and forget it because that’s not fun,” he said.
He thanked his wife and kids for allowing him to be called away on holidays and birthdays, and thanked God for setting him on this path.
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