Frank Fahland interview

Lincoln County resident Frank Fahland said he was planning to run for Lincoln County Justice of the Peace, but second thoughts concerning professional commitments as a pharmacist in Idaho led him to request that his name be removed from ballots.

Unfortunately, his request to Lincoln County Clerk and Recorder Tammy Lauer came after the ballots were already printed.

While his name will appear on the ballots, Fahland said he is no longer running for the position.

Fahland said he drives to Bonners Ferry four days a week.

“Lincoln County needs someone who can devote themselves full time to the position,” Fahland said. “It would be very difficult for me to do that. I work about 60 hours a week, and in winter it is even longer with the drive.”

Fahland said he initially threw his name into the mix because he was concerned about “some issues that need to be corrected.”

“I do not believe in cookie-cutter sentencing,” Fahland said. “And that whole 24/7 sobriety deal needed to be overturned.”

In an interview during which he decided he was absolutely not running, Fahland said the consolidation of the Justice of the Peace position with the eventual Dec. 31 closure of the Eureka annex made him think twice.

“I don’t think I have the time,” Fahland said. “It may be more than I can undertake. I don’t know if I would have pulled out had that decision to consolidate not been made. Those are questions that I lay awake at night asking myself.”

With his name on the ballot, Fahland said he would have to uphold the laws of the county should he be elected.

“I was born and raised in Libby,” Fahland said. “I hear people want change.”