Commission candidate released from custody

A Douglas County commissioner candidate was released from custody on Tuesday after promising he would seek treatment.

Jason Garrett Gibson was remanded into custody on Aug. 6 after a hearing in Tahoe Township Justice Court where prosecutors said he failed to arrange to make an appointment with Lakes Crossing for medication designed to restore him to competency in a criminal harassment case.

A doctor at Lakes Crossing found that Gibson wasn’t competent to aid in his defense in three different matters that were transferred to Tahoe from East Fork. The doctor said he could be restored to competency with medication, but that he refused to make an appointment, according to court documents. Gibson was determined to be incompetent in a June 7 order from the court. He was scheduled for an evaluation order on Aug. 6 when he was taken into custody.

Gibson claimed in court that he was unaware of the order.

On Tuesday, attorney Mary Brown said Gibson had been in custody for 42 days on the misdemeanor.

Under an order issued by Justice of the Peace Mike Johnson, Gibson promised to check in with Douglas County Mental Health to obtain an appointment to move forward with treatment.

Gibson will appear on the Nov. 5 ballot as a Democrat despite an ongoing challenge to his candidacy because the county says he switched to the Natural Law Party in July.

That lawsuit was derailed when Gibson was found not competent to aid in his defense and therefore couldn’t adequately represent himself. Judge Tod Young issued an order that a guardian ad litem be appointed in the case.