CITY OF GRANTS, N.M. — The Grants Municipal Court bench will be welcoming a new municipal judge this March. Judge Elise Larsen has decided not to run for another term, and there is only one person running for the position. Therefore, Michael Cavin will be the next municipal judge for the City of Grants.
Cavin has lived in Cibola at two different times for a total of about seven years. His current employment is with Milan Police Department as the Zoning and Code Enforcement/Animal Control Officer, a position of which he has held for about a year now. Some background information about Cavin is that he graduated from school in Mississippi, has an associate degree in criminal justice, is married with one child, and is an outdoor person who enjoys activities such as fishing and hunting. According to Cavin, it was public service that drew him to his current position in Milan and it was public service that would lead him to his next endeavor as judge. “I’ve always worked for private companies or private corporations or state prisons, you know, stuff of that nature. When I got into serving the public, then meeting the public’s needs, meeting the public, and talking to them over here through the Village of Milan, I thought to myself, ‘I could do good and I could help people if I was to run for an elected office,’” said Cavin. While Cavin will not be able to continue with MPD as he serves as Grants Municipal Judge, the Ordinance and Regulation/Animal Control Officer says he thinks his current position and past experience will help him in various aspects of the judge position. Along with a degree in criminal justice, Cavin also has law enforcement training, and knowledge of municipal ordinances, regulations, code enforcement, and zoning. Cavin also said his job has required him to attend court frequently and interact with the general public often. “I think I have a background that’s very conducive, and I’ve also worked in large corporations where I’ve dealt with people. I deal with people a lot, so I’m pretty good with people. I love people, I love dealing with people, and I love being able to assist people. I think those qualities would be able to help me because it teaches me that not everything is just black and white,” shared Cavin.
As determined by City of Grants ordinance, the only technical qualifications to be the municipal judge are that they have at least a GED and be a registered voter. Cavin was asked what his approach would be in situations where there was an area of the law that he was unfamiliar with, to which he said that there are many avenues and resources available for such situations, such as having discussions with the people around him, having discussion with other judges, reaching out to the municipal league, or conducting his own research. “I would never make a decision blindly without having the facts,” Cavin assured.
Cavin also discussed some of the principles that he would stand by while serving, including education, open-mindedness, understanding, communication, fairness, firmness, and consistency. Expanding on education, Cavin stated, “I think a large part of being anybody who’s in control or trying to assist or help is education, educating the people… I firmly believe that a lot of times, it’s just a miscommunication, people don’t understand what they’re supposed to do… And I believe that if everybody gets on the same page, I believe that it’ll be a much easier job for all of the city officials, as well as the judicial officials, and then we’ll make for a more pleasant community.”
Cavin also emphasized that good communication is key for maintaining healthy relationships between himself, the government branches, and all departments. “I really want to do good things for the city. I want the city to grow and expand and be the best it can be. I want all the departments to work together. I plan on bridging gaps. In the past, I understand there might have been some issues between [branches and departments…] There might be some issues there, but I’m looking forward to being new in that position and able to bridge that gap, so that we can all work together.” Cavin also talked about how he will always base his decisions on the facts of each case, while also trying to strike a balance between openmindedness, understanding, fairness, firmness, and consistency. Cavin is aware of the mountain of criticism looming over New Mexico judges and he wants to be one that changes that, even if only at the municipal level. “Besides being openminded and understanding, I’m also going to be fair, firm, and consistent. Fair, firm, and consistent means it’s the same regardless of who you are. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you’ve done in the community… There are consequences for your actions. I do plan on being fair, firm, and consistent, but also in the same aspect, I want to be educating and understanding. A lot of people don’t understand what they’re doing is wrong... If it’s a major crime and it calls for major things, you have to understand that the municipal won’t be seeing a lot of that, but still being fair, firm, and consistent at this level will hopefully sway offenders from going down that path,” explained Cavin. Finally, the MPD officer discussed how important a municipal court is to the operation and success of a community. Cavin described the municipal judge as the person who bridges the gap between law enforcement, ordinance and regulation officers, animal control, planning and zoning, governing bodies, and the public. According to Cavin, the role of a judge is to serve as “somebody that can go in there and actually right the wrong or dismiss the ticket or find them guilty” or as “the third party, that’s open-minded enough to look into both sides of the story to see what the reasoning was.”
“If you don’t have that person in there, then you just have like a dictatorship,” said Cavin, continuing, “So you have to be fair, firm, and consistent. You have to be very open-minded, very understanding. Hopefully I’ll do a great job. My goal is to make Grants a better place, a safer place, a better place to live. I’m doing that. I firmly believe that public service was where I was meant to be… I want to be the best judge I can be. I want to help out the citizens, help out the police department, the code enforcement, the council — I want to be there for everybody.” Cavin concluded with what he is looking to most as he steps into this endeavor, “I’m looking forward to the new experience, something that I’ve done in smaller doses and other places where I’ve worked at, but I’m looking forward to meeting new people, and understanding new ways. I’m looking forward to the training, the understand of the laws and of New Mexico. I’m looking forward to conversing and socializing with different people in our city and our city government. So, I’m just looking forward to a new adventure. I think it’s going to be a wonderful, wonderful adventure.”