Out there in Millville? Don't mess with the judge

By Lynze Wardle

MILLVILLE -- In his 12 years as a justice court judge for Millville, Providence and River Heights, Allan Vail has seen a lot of changes.

"The first three years I was on the bench I had maybe two DUI (driving under the influence) cases in three years and one domestic violence case. Now I see about three DUI cases a month and an average of one domestic violence case a month."

Vail has taken special measures to fight the increase in crime that he believes is a result of population growth. He has a policy of making minors pay the fines for crimes they commit, or pay their parents back through hard labor.

"A lot of high school students can't work and go to school, so I do let them do community service like painting picnic tables [and] cleaning garden areas in parks," Vail said. "Last summer a young man worked for a full day to pay a $50 speeding fine."

If they won't pay their parents back, Vail doesn't hesitate to use his authority. When a teenager refused to help his father clean out his garage as payment for a speeding fine, Vail ordered him to spend a day working at Logan city dump.

"If you've ever been to Logan landfill in the summer, it's smelly, you have a thousand seagulls flying over you -- it's gross," Vail said. "I had him out there raking, separating metal from the garbage. A couple of days later my father called thanking me and said his son really got an awakening. You don't mess with the judge."

Vail attributes the sharp increase in domestic violence cases to a new law which requires that someone be charged with an offense and jailed every time the police are dispatched to a domestic violence call. This policy means that more cases are recorded, but Vail sees it as a positive change.

"It separates the people and gives them time to reconsider their actions. Most of the time after 24 hours they've settled down or sobered up, and many times the complainant requests the charges be dropped," Vail said.

Vail was raised in Illinois and graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in liberal arts. Before he became a judge, he served the public in the California Highway Patrol, Border Patrol, Marine Corps, and as a criminal investigator.

Ninety percent of the cases that Vail deals with are traffic violations, he said. Small claims disputes, domestic violence problems, DUIs and minors in possession of alcohol and drugs make up the remainder of the infractions and Class C and B misdemeanors that reach his court.

Vail's authority stretches farther than just disciplinary matters. Using a ceremony that he and his wife wrote, Vail married 53 couples last year, many in the Old Rock Church across the street from the courthouse.

Weddings are the best part of his job, Vail said. "I have fun doing that -- seeing people so happy and joyous."

The position of justice court judge is appointed by the mayor. After serving three four-year terms, Vail still has no plans to retire.

"When I first applied for this transition I'd just retired from the government and I thought it would be a neat transition into public life," he said. "Here I am 12 years later, but I'm still having fun. As long as I'm still enjoying it and my health is good, I'll stick around."

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