NATCHEZ — Adams County voters will hit the polls in November to elect a new county court judge.

The election comes after 31-year veteran Judge John Hudson announced he would not be seeking re-election.

Six candidates qualified for the election — Walt Brown, Lamar Bullen, Patricia Dunmore, Brandi Lewis, Scott Pintard and Scott Slover.

Only 19 counties in Mississippi have county courts, which were created by the Legislature to reduce the workload of circuit and chancery courts. The county court hears matters of eminent domain, unlawful entry and detainer, partition of personal property and youth court. The county court judge also hears non-capital felony criminal cases the circuit court transfers.

Voters have a responsibility to gather as much information as possible before casting a ballot, and plenty of you have been asking good questions. The Natchez Democrat has collected the questions many of our readers have e-mailed to us, posted online or mentioned in passing. We culled the list into nine questions and posed them to all six candidates last week.

The candidates were given three days in which to write out their own answers. Due to space limitations, each question had a maximum word count of 200. Four of the questions appear in our print edition, while the remaining five can be seen on natchezdemocrat.com.

The answers you will read below and inside today’s edition are the candidates own words.

The election will be Nov. 4.

Q: Why are you running?

Walt Brown: When I heard Judge Hudson would not be seeking reelection, I decided to run for the position. It is a judgeship that has always intrigued me, especially the Youth Court facet.

Lamar Bullen: To save and make a difference in the lives of children.To make a difference in the lives of the parents of the children that end up in County/Youth Court.To make the Youth Court system more economically feasible, cut costs, and run a more efficient Court.To streamline the civil docket, improve the timeline where cases get to court.

Patricia Dunmore: I am running because I know that I can have a greater and positive impact on youth in this position than I do in my present position. Being Youth Court Judge gives me better resources to help implement some ideas that I believe will help the community and the children.

Brandi Lewis: I am running because I believe I can make a difference in our community through both the County and Youth Courts.  I have a passion for children and began performing child advocacy work in law school.  The children of Adams County are our future, and I believe all children should have the opportunity to thrive in life.  There is a need for Youth Court to help aid and rehabilitate children who come into the Youth Court system.  The youth who come before the Court are in need of direction and need to be held accountable for their actions. If people are held accountable, they are more likely to learn from their mistakes, and therefore, can move on to become productive citizens here in Adams County.  I would like to continue the work of the Youth Court in helping make the families of these juveniles an integral part of their rehabilitation.  I am a mother, and I know how important it is for parents to insure that our children have the best opportunities.  In order to have those opportunities and obtain success, our children need our love and support.  Furthermore, I have centered not only my professional life around children, I have also worked through the Junior Auxiliary of Natchez to help any and all children in need in our area. Through being your County and Youth Court Judge, I can continue my work with both the Court system and our youth.

Scott Pintard: I am running for County Court and Youth Court Judge because I want to help the youth in our community. I want to try to stop the revolving door and end the cycle of youth recidivism. When I was in Undergraduate School, I took several graduate level Juvenile Justice Courses which heightened my desire to help our youth stay out of trouble or recover from the trouble they were in. Our children are our future and watching them not receive the help they may need, whether before or after trouble has always bothered me. Our children deserve a fair chance no matter where they come from. I hoped in college that one day I would have the chance to help our Youth. After Law School, I knew I could help our youth by defending them and protecting their rights whether it was in Youth Court, Circuit, or Chancery Court. While wanting to run for County and Youth Court Judge for several terms, there have always been some impediments which delayed my candidacy. I decided this year/term I would run against Judge Hudson and qualified to run against him. He later announced his retirement, which led to the other candidates running against me.

Scott Slover: I developed a calling to make a career as the County Court judge from my work in the Youth Court and I want to have a dedicated career therein. While all the candidates are my friends, I believe I make the best judge and would continue to move the County Court, Youth Court, and Adams County as a whole forward.