A candidate for sheriff in Greenbrier County will soon be extradited to Augusta County, VA, to face criminal charges.
An alleged protective order violation was filed against Mark Robinson, the Republican nominee to the Greenbrier County Sheriff’s Department, by police in Augusta County, and an out-of-state warrant was received by the Greenbrier County Magistrate Court on Monday, October 22.
After he was released on a $2,500 bond, Robinson’s case was transferred to Greenbrier County Circuit Court, where Judge Robert Richardson ordered authorities with Augusta County to pick up Robinson from the Greenbrier County Sheriff’s Department on the charges. Robinson stated he will turn himself in today, October 26.
“It’s not my best day,” said Robinson. “It’s going on three years now that I haven’t been able to communicate love to my children and now I’m going to go up there and wait for a trial.”
According to Robinson, he previously faced five misdemeanor counts for sending letters to his children in violation of a Greenbrier County Family Court order.
“I have been looking for my family for quite a while,” explained Robinson. “I thought they were in the Charlottesville area, and looked there for a while. Then switched to Staunton and vicinity when I learned they have a P.O. Box there. It is a huge county. After many weeks, I got a tip at a local Dairy Queen. It focused me on a high school, which I pulled into a few days later in the morning. My wife pulled in 3 [or] 4 minutes later, I stayed long enough, at a distance, to be sure it was her, and then left. Never harmed or threatened or even said anything. But that was enough to get the sheriff’s [department] on my back.”
The initial Augusta County warrant carries two charges; a violation of provisions of a protective order and an attempt to commit a misdemeanor. According to the Virginia State Code, this charge is a Class 1 misdemeanor, which can carry, if convicted, a sentence of confinement in jail for not more than 12 months, a fine of not more than $2,500, or both. The charge is defined as “a violation [that] involves a provision of the protective order that prohibits such person from going or remaining upon land, buildings, or premises; further acts of family abuse; or committing a criminal offense, or which prohibits contacts by the respondent with the allegedly abused person or family or household members of the allegedly abused person as the court deems appropriate.”
“I will probably be in jail until trial, since I figure it will be a high bail, just like it was a year ago when I was arrested here in Greenbrier County for some harmless letters to my kids,” Robinson said. “The reason I want to be sheriff [in Greenbrier County] is because I want to undercut the efforts of the courts, especially the Family Court, to wreck lives because of foolish agendas.”
In the May primary, Robinson ran unopposed in the Republican primary, gathering 1,898 votes. In the November election, early voting in which has commence, Robinson is running against the current Greenbrier County Sheriff, Democratic nominee Bruce Sloan.
Robinson, in a campaign flier, explained his campaign intends to “expose the family court,” and stated that, as sheriff, he intends to make several changes to the justice system in Greenbrier County:
• “People seeking an alternative to the abuses of the Family Court can use the Sheriff’s Court. This court will be fast, public, and fair. In divorce cases, the children will have plenty of input into how their lives will be structured. No lawyers will be allowed, and social workers will not be tyrants over families.”
• “Any lawyers who have participated in flagrantly unjust [outcomes] in the Family Court will be listed as unfit to practice law, and the Sheriff’s Office will not enforce orders from courts in which said lawyers have been involved in decisions.”
• “Issue traffic tickets that are not reported to the state or to insurance companies and that do not add points to the driver’s record.”
• “Instead of jail time and police records, most criminal cases will be resolved with restitution that benefits the victim.”
• “Mr. Robinson will use all of the powers of his office to encourage married couples to stay married, and families to stick together.”
• “Where there is no victim, there is no crime.”
Many of the changes to the courts Robinson proposes would not fall under the jurisdiction of a sheriff’s office, either falling within regulations set by the federal or state government legislatures or falling within judicial powers.
As part of the executive branch, the Greenbrier County Sheriff’s Department would not be able to enact these changes without violating the separation of powers between governmental branches.
Read more in the Friday, October 26, edition of The West Virginia Daily News.
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