From Hammer To Gavel Former Construction Worker Sworn In As Magistrate

The black robes and the chambers of the county courthouse are a far cry from the sweltering heat of the construction site.

Benjamin Simpson knows.

It was while working with hammers and electric saws that the newest Kootenai County magistrate chose his future.

Almost 30 years old, Simpson was working the daily grind when he left his saw out in the scorching sun.

He picked it up and blistered his hand.

After that, he said to himself, “I’ve got to do something different.”

So he did.

Almost 20 years later, Simpson has become a 1st District magistrate. On Monday, he took over the job from Paul McCabe, who retired last month.

Simpson is “a real team player. He looks for the best way to get the job done. He’s got real common sense,” said 1st District Magistrate Barry Watson, who served as an adviser to the selection committee. “He’s quiet and a hard worker.”

He also has the background for relating to the general public, Watson said.

Simpson served in the Navy on submarines for three years out of Guam and Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. He worked as a maintenance mechanic and a boiler operator for an Alaskan hospital and as a construction worker in California before going to Gonzaga University Law School in Spokane in 1981.

After graduation, he went straight into private legal practice in Wallace.

“I think if you go straight to college, then to law, you have a different mind-set,” said Simpson’s wife, Maurine. “I think he’s very well-suited for it. He’s extremely fair and extremely patient.”

Magistrates hear about eight times more cases than higher-level judges do.

Magistrates handle divorces, small-claims courts, misdemeanors and first hearings on felonies.

“Magistrates deal a lot more with the general public, who oftentimes don’t have attorneys,” Watson said. “At times, you have to be a lot more patient. You have to be teachers.”

Simpson said he chose law because it always had fascinated him and because he and his wife wanted to live in a small town.

“We figured to live in a small town, you had to have a business and a profession,” Simpson said.

After graduating magna cum laude from law school in 1984, Simpson went to work for a small private firm in Wallace.

He also worked as a public defender in Shoshone County and a prosecutor for the city of Osburn while handling a full caseload of civil and criminal matters at his law practice.

One year, Simpson worked on almost 1,000 cases, said Gene Brown, who served on the selection committee. It chose Simpson over 27 other candidates.

“I was really impressed with him,” Brown said. “He’s an unbiased person.”

When asked whether he could be fair in dealing with people of different professions, Simpson replied, “There are no menial jobs,” Brown said.

Simpson still stays true to his roots of construction and working with his hands.

Last summer, he completed a 20-foot tugboat that sits on Lake Coeur d’Alene.

“I always wanted to build a boat. I’ve wanted to since I was 10 years old,” Simpson said.

“I like different things to do.”