MARLOW – Former Marlow Municipal Judge John Alexander has heard every excuse in the book why motorists were speeding, driving drunk or vicious dogs were running loose. Alexander, 60, called it quits after 22 years as the city’s municipal judge. His last duty was to administer the oath of office to his replacement Carrie Hixon during the city council meeting Tuesday night.
“I started on July 1, 1999, and worked on a two-year contract which was renewed 10 times. Either nobody wanted my job or I was doing a good job,” he joked.
Alexander aspired to become a district judge but as life worked out, he was meant to sit as Marlow’s top judicial officer for more than two decades. During that time, Marlow received its first traffic control device, which brought a plethora of reasons for violating municipal traffic laws. On more than one occasion, parents blamed themselves to keep their teenage children out of trouble. However, the judge typically ruled it was the teens who were at fault and should be held accountable.
“I remember one woman taking the blame for her son because they bought him a car with a stick shift and that he just gave it too much gas,” Alexander recalled. “In every court docket you can find humor but there are also very serious situations.”
Some of Alexander’s fondest memories as municipal judge involve people who were down on their luck. In one instance, the traffic offender had no driver’s license, was in her early 20s with two children and had dropped out of high school years earlier because she was pregnant. The worst part, according to Alexander, was that the woman couldn’t read. That’s when the judge’s compassionate side kicked in.
“I worked with her and got her into an adult reading class. She passed and eventually got her driver’s license,” he said. “I’ve had conversations with her since and she’s thankful she was able to correct the problem. That’s probably the most gratifying case I’ve ever worked. I was never one to slap a fine on them and send them out the door.”
Alexander, who maintains a private law practice in Marlow, pushed another frequent visitor to the courtroom to go through DUI classes so he could get his driver’s license. The man had no driver’s license for 14 years.
One of the most unique cases Alexander heard involved a man who resembled the fictional town drunk Otis Campbell in the TV series The Andy Griffith Show. The Marlow man would steal beer from a local convenience store and then return to the store, steal some chips and then go outside to wait on police to arrive.
“I finally sent the case to district court where the man pleaded not guilty to petty larceny. The DA presented him with a plea agreement but the man wanted to take his chances at trial.” The man reportedly wanted to stay in jail and get three meals a day and a place to sleep, the judge recalled.
Eventually, the district attorney dismissed the charges because the man’s disability and medical issues were costing too much and the county could not afford to take care of him.
“About two and a half years later he came to my office. He had gotten his disability (award) and told me he paid all of his fines and fees. It was nice to see he had changed,” Alexander said.
MOVING FORWARD - Although Alexander isn’t retiring from his law practice, he is scaling back on the number of clients. Without the city job, the longtime lawyer will have more time for his golf, fishing and motorcycle hobbies – at least through the summer.
“I didn’t think I would miss it, but this week I started remembering some of the old cases,” he said. “I guess I’ll have to start obeying all the traffic laws from now on and so will my wife. One time she got a ticket in Duncan and tried to use the ‘my husband is the Marlow judge’ excuse but that didn’t work.”
Alexander joined a Marlow law practice in 1989. Now, he conducts an “old man’s practice” doing title and estate work for his clients. He declined to accept criminal and family law cases when he was appointed municipal judge because of conflicts of interest.
Although he’s selective on who he accepts as new clients, Alexander said he and his secretary have a “ton of work to do” for existing clients. One of these days Alexander will retire for good, but for now he’s still helping people just like he did as Marlow’s municipal judge.