When it comes to party politics and campaigning, it’s still hard to grasp just what a candidate running for circuit court judge could promise the electorate to earn their vote.

They can’t promise to rule a certain way in a trial. They can’t promise to offer a lesser sentence, if the evidence and situation prevents. Instead, what Collins Pettaway and Judge Tommy Jones can commit is how they will conduct their courtrooms and how they will continue to conduct themselves.

“I have a reputation — and have developed a reputation — over the last 18 years of being tough on crime and I make no apologies for that. And, I am not going to change position on that at all. I hold people accountable because we have to hold people accountable to keep our community safe,” said Jones, who has served on the Circuit Court Place 1 spot for 18 years. “I like to say that there will be justice, but there will be justice with mercy.”

For Pettaway, who is seeking to beat Jones in Tuesday’s party primary — a primary that also serves as they election since there isn’t any GOP opposition awaiting the winner, he said he would commit to changing the current system, changing it for the better.

“I don’t want to go in and tear up the system. I do plan on changing some things for the better so the system will work better. And, my simple plan — I mean it’s not earth shattering — it’s something other people have done,” said Pettaway, who is a long-time attorney in the Selma area. “You should want to be a difference maker. As a Christian, you should want to make a difference. You don’t need to do a job to draw a paycheck, you need to be there to make a difference and I plan to make a difference.”

One of Pettaway’s main campaign points is his want to restructure the court’s docket schedule, allowing judges the opportunity to schedule cases throughout the day, rather than have in everyone at the same time.

“The judge controls his docket, the cases that come before him. I am not going to have everyone come at 9 a.m. Why 9 a.m.? I can’t get to every case at 9 a.m.,” Pettaway said. “So even if I am doing the same thing, and I am set to hear 100 cases, then why not the first 25 come at 9 a.m., the second 25 come at 10 a.m. and so forth. That makes better sense. Because the people’s time is just as important as mine.

“As a judge, I am not being paid by the hour. The people that are coming to my court, might be hourly workers, so they can stay at work a little longer, or they can stay at home and sleep for another hour or two.”

As for Jones, his campaign has focused on what he believes the people of the fourth circuit want.

“People throughout the circuit are interested in maintaining people in these positions who have integrity, who are fair and are impartial,” Jones said. “They are interested in people, are independent thinkers and are not controlled by people or groups of people.”