Newsmaker: Award-Winning Judge

Alfred “Bucky” Edgar, Wood River Justice Court judge in northern Klamath County, Oregon, was chosen to receive the 1997 Kenneth L. MacEachern Memorial Award by the National Judges Association. The award recognizes the most outstanding nonattorney judge in the United States. Brother Edgar, who has served in his position since 1982, is known for sometimes giving unorthodox sentences to help offenders get a new perspective. One time, for example, he sentenced a juvenile to go mountain climbing with him and his family. Several years later the youth’s father thanked Brother Edgar for turning the child’s life around.

One of about 1,400 nonattorney judges nationally, Brother Edgar hears more than 300 misdemeanor and violation cases each month and still finds time to work for a health and wellness company. He is credited with starting Oregon’s first teen court, in which high school students serve as attorneys and jurors.

He often drops by the jail to see if inmates need extra help, such as a ride home after they have served their jail time. He says of his sentencing philosophy, “I try to follow the 121st section of the Doctrine and Covenants—to reprove with sharpness and then afterwards show an increase of love.”

Brother Edgar is the deacons quorum adviser in the Chiloquin Branch, Klamath Falls Oregon Stake. He is married to Judy Skinner Edgar, and they are the parents of 10 children.—Shelli Edgar Smith, Everett, Massachusetts