TUSCUMBIA, Ala. (WHNT) – There will be a runoff election between Chad Smith and Mary Baschab-Haslacker to determine who will be the next District Judge for Colbert County.

Chad Smith is currently a municipal judge in Tuscumbia with over a decade of legal experience in the Shoals area. He told News 19 that his top goal, if elected, would be to improve the juvenile court system to protect children.

“I’ve been working in our juvenile court now for a little over seven years,” Smith said. “It’s been an eye-opener on what some of these kids have to go through and what they endure, so that’s one of the main reasons that I’m running.”

He later added that he has previously worked to implement a veterans court system to help veterans in need as well.

Mary Baschab-Haslacker is a practicing attorney in Muscle Shoals who has previously worked in the federal court system. If elected, she told News 19 that she would prioritize making a transparent, honest and fair office for the citizens of Colbert County.

“Not everyone is happy in court. Someone is going to leave feeling like, ‘well, I lost,'” Baschab-Haslacker said. “But I want them to leave thinking, ‘I may have lost, but I know that that judge did what was fair and only looked at the law and the facts.'”

Smith led the pack during the primary election with 38% of the vote while Baschab-Haslacker trailed by about 600 votes, earning just over 31%.