There’s a new magistrate in Florala, and his name is Aron Jenkins.

For almost four months, Jenkins has served as the state-line city’s go-to guy when it comes to the day-to-day business of the court.

This is Jenkins’ first job as a magistrate and first as a civilian. From May 2002 to January 2014, he served in the United States Navy.

Jenkins left the Navy while on shore duty in Virginia to help his wife, Katharine, take care of her mother, who had a stroke a few years ago.

One weekend a month he serves as a lieutenant commander in the Navy reserves.

Jenkins said he’s really enjoying his job as Florala’s magistrate.

“I am enjoying it,” he said. “It stays busy, and it’s just a lot of new things to learn. I went through the certification course and I learned a lot. You learn things every day.”

Other duties Jenkins has every day include receiving tickets from officers, determining whether or not arrest cases go to court, receiving complaints and taking depositions, if there is probable cause for a warrant and assisting the judge during court, to name a few.

“There’s always something else to do,” he said about the job.

While in the Navy, Jenkins served nine months in Afghanistan as he did two deployments on ships — one in the Mediterranean and the other in the Persian Gulf — in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and the Iraq War.

In Afghanistan, Jenkins served as an individual augmentee, working for the Joint Task Force Phoenix down in Kandahar Province. The task force was formed in 2003-2004 by the United States Central Command to train and mentor the newly created Afghan National Army/Afghan National Security Forces to establish and maintain law and order throughout Afghanistan.

Jenkins additional deployments were on the U.S.S. Farragut, and with the Destroyer Squadron 22 on the carrier, George H.W.

Jenkins served as a surface warfare officer, one who stays long enough to be a captain.

Jenkins was an Army brat growing up as he moved several times as a youngster. He graduated from the University of Rochester in Rochester, N.Y. on a R.O.T.C. scholarship. Upon graduation, he was commissioned in the Navy.

One of the benefits of living and working in the south is the weather, Jenkins said.

“I enjoy it much more than when we were up in Virginia,” he said. “It’s much nicer than the snow days and cold weather.”