Thursday, December 6, 2012 Fremont, North Carolina www.newsleadernow.com 75¢

Eureka won’t get

sewer fi xed, but

won’t raise rates

...page 3

Pikeville nixes

fees for Internet

gaming sites

...page 3

Lady Falcons

knock off

Rosewood

...page 9

Wayne-Wilson

Class members from Pikeville High School of 1945 recently got together for at K&W restaurant for dinner and to talk over old memories. Those attend-ing the reunion included: (front row, from left) Betty Rackley, Myrtle Tillman, Hilda Peele and Esther Lancaster; (second row) Smokey Smith, Raymon Da-vis and Edward Vail. (Contributed photo)

Back together after57 years of memories

Courtroom bailiffs atWayne Co. Courthouse in charge of much morethan introducing judges By Michael JaenickeStaff Writer

Raymond “Rusty” Burrell was a court-room xture for three decades.

Who?You know, Rusty, the bailiff from Judge

Joseph Wapner’s “People’s Court.”But Burrell, a reality-show bailiff, had

fewer duties and more accolades than his real-life contemporaries in six courtrooms in Wayne County.

Keeping order in and out of the court-room falls upon the hands of Sheriff’s Dept. Sgt. of Court Security Randy King and his 24 bailiffs. He took over the group in 2008 after a 30-year career in law enforcement.

King said bailiffs have to deal with a wide array of circumstances to provide se-curity for judges, jurors, defendants, plain-tiffs and courtroom visitors.

“We do whatever is necessary to uphold the law,” King said. “It’s an important job. There are a good number of people we have to escort out or carry to jail. The safety of those in the courthouse is our top priority.”

King said his of cers are on top of any and all action at the courthouse.

“I love my job and the group of guys who work with me,” he said. “I say ‘with me’ because no on works for me.

King and Corp. Ray Brodgen are the lone full-time bailiffs. All bailiffs report to Capt. Ray Brogden. Many bailiffs fre-quently clock full-time or close to full-time hours each week. Most courtrooms have three bailiffs.

The county lost grant money that paid for a DUI court judge and district attorney, forcing an overload on Fridays. For exam-ple, last Friday, 411 people were scheduled to appear in traf c court No. 3. The court-room capacity is 234.

While most people aren’t happy to be paying nes and dealing with traf c vio-lations, the tension level is higher in other courtrooms.

“I just had to deal with a 13-year-old in juvenile court that tore up a towel dispenser in the bathroom,” said Joe Sadler, a bailiff who started this year following a 24-year career with the N.C. State Highway Patrol.

Sadler said some courtrooms are lled with hostility, and trouble can come at any moment.

“We make frequent arrests and on occa-sion have to break up a ght,” Sadler said. “A man assaulting his girlfriend was prob-ably the most severe one I’ve seen.”

A joke circulating around the courthouse is that Friday is ‘hate your neighbor day.’ On that day, many assault, trespassing, property damage, harassing phone calls and property damage cases are heard in court.

“It’s usually the longest day of the week,” Sadler said. “We not only deal with people in the court, we also have to deal with a massive amount of people in the hallways,

and in the courthouse in general.“This is completely different from the

Highway Patrol in that we’re in a con ned space with a large mass of people. There are times we have to arrest people. We have to take action.”

When you have a court date, remember to bring a can of patience and a pound of understanding.

“At best, we are peacekeepers and se-curity,” Sadler said. “But people have to be patient and listen to the judges, bailiffs and courtroom of cers, and remember the courtroom does not run around your sched-ule or for your convenience.”

Lounes Blackman returned to law en-forcement after 27 years to become a bai-liff.

“I left because of the pay,” he said. “I was making $8,000 in 1977, and had a wife and kid on the way,” said Blackman, who was a police of cer in Goldsboro for six years. “I hated to go, but I worked security at Firestone and made $17,500.”

Blackman, 67, won the PT Award for his Basic Law Enforcement Training class

when he recerti ed at age 62. He is thrilled to be a bailiff.

“Our job is a lot harder than people real-ize,” Blackman said. “Your day can go from opening up court to tasing someone. We are responsible for the courtrooms, but also ev-ery room in the courthouse. Judges, jurors and defendants want uniformed, armed bai-liffs, and our sheriff has been very support-ive of the bailiff system.”

Wayne County used 16 certi ed bailiffs and eight non-certi ed bailiffs.

Blackman said cell phone use, talk-ing and proper dress are the most frequent problems in Superior Court.

“I work in court at Cherry Hospitals on Thursday mornings,” he said. “A lot of peo-ple don’t know we do that, or that we’re in Mount Olive on Fridays. Our bailiff system works really well, in part because of Sgt. King and Capt. Brogden.

“We can run up to six courts at one time. Once judges enter the building, we are re-sponsible for them. I don’t know about any-one else, but if I walk in a courtroom and see three bailiffs, I feel a lot more secure.”

All Rise...

Wayne County Bailiff Joe Sadler, a former N.C. Highway Patrolman, is in his fi rst year as a Bailiff. Sadler has to be prepared at all times to keep order if things get un-ruly or dangerous in the courtroom. (NL photo by Michael Jaenicke)

Wayne County Courthouse bailiffs Joe Sadler, left, Ray Thompson and Tom Swend-burg talk about proceedure during a recent work day. (NL photo by Michael Jae-nicke)

Thursday, December 6, 2012 Fremont, North Carolina www.newsleadernow.com 75¢

Eureka won’t get

sewer fi xed, but

won’t raise rates

...page 3

Pikeville nixes

fees for Internet

gaming sites

...page 3

Lady Falcons

knock off

Rosewood

...page 9

Wayne-Wilson

Class members from Pikeville High School of 1945 recently got together for at K&W restaurant for dinner and to talk over old memories. Those attend-ing the reunion included: (front row, from left) Betty Rackley, Myrtle Tillman, Hilda Peele and Esther Lancaster; (second row) Smokey Smith, Raymon Da-vis and Edward Vail. (Contributed photo)

Back together after57 years of memories

Courtroom bailiffs atWayne Co. Courthouse in charge of much morethan introducing judges By Michael JaenickeStaff Writer

Raymond “Rusty” Burrell was a court-room xture for three decades.

Who?You know, Rusty, the bailiff from Judge

Joseph Wapner’s “People’s Court.”But Burrell, a reality-show bailiff, had

fewer duties and more accolades than his real-life contemporaries in six courtrooms in Wayne County.

Keeping order in and out of the court-room falls upon the hands of Sheriff’s Dept. Sgt. of Court Security Randy King and his 24 bailiffs. He took over the group in 2008 after a 30-year career in law enforcement.

King said bailiffs have to deal with a wide array of circumstances to provide se-curity for judges, jurors, defendants, plain-tiffs and courtroom visitors.

“We do whatever is necessary to uphold the law,” King said. “It’s an important job. There are a good number of people we have to escort out or carry to jail. The safety of those in the courthouse is our top priority.”

King said his of cers are on top of any and all action at the courthouse.

“I love my job and the group of guys who work with me,” he said. “I say ‘with me’ because no on works for me.

King and Corp. Ray Brodgen are the lone full-time bailiffs. All bailiffs report to Capt. Ray Brogden. Many bailiffs fre-quently clock full-time or close to full-time hours each week. Most courtrooms have three bailiffs.

The county lost grant money that paid for a DUI court judge and district attorney, forcing an overload on Fridays. For exam-ple, last Friday, 411 people were scheduled to appear in traf c court No. 3. The court-room capacity is 234.

While most people aren’t happy to be paying nes and dealing with traf c vio-lations, the tension level is higher in other courtrooms.

“I just had to deal with a 13-year-old in juvenile court that tore up a towel dispenser in the bathroom,” said Joe Sadler, a bailiff who started this year following a 24-year career with the N.C. State Highway Patrol.

Sadler said some courtrooms are lled with hostility, and trouble can come at any moment.

“We make frequent arrests and on occa-sion have to break up a ght,” Sadler said. “A man assaulting his girlfriend was prob-ably the most severe one I’ve seen.”

A joke circulating around the courthouse is that Friday is ‘hate your neighbor day.’ On that day, many assault, trespassing, property damage, harassing phone calls and property damage cases are heard in court.

“It’s usually the longest day of the week,” Sadler said. “We not only deal with people in the court, we also have to deal with a massive amount of people in the hallways,

and in the courthouse in general.“This is completely different from the

Highway Patrol in that we’re in a con ned space with a large mass of people. There are times we have to arrest people. We have to take action.”

When you have a court date, remember to bring a can of patience and a pound of understanding.

“At best, we are peacekeepers and se-curity,” Sadler said. “But people have to be patient and listen to the judges, bailiffs and courtroom of cers, and remember the courtroom does not run around your sched-ule or for your convenience.”

Lounes Blackman returned to law en-forcement after 27 years to become a bai-liff.

“I left because of the pay,” he said. “I was making $8,000 in 1977, and had a wife and kid on the way,” said Blackman, who was a police of cer in Goldsboro for six years. “I hated to go, but I worked security at Firestone and made $17,500.”

Blackman, 67, won the PT Award for his Basic Law Enforcement Training class

when he recerti ed at age 62. He is thrilled to be a bailiff.

“Our job is a lot harder than people real-ize,” Blackman said. “Your day can go from opening up court to tasing someone. We are responsible for the courtrooms, but also ev-ery room in the courthouse. Judges, jurors and defendants want uniformed, armed bai-liffs, and our sheriff has been very support-ive of the bailiff system.”

Wayne County used 16 certi ed bailiffs and eight non-certi ed bailiffs.

Blackman said cell phone use, talk-ing and proper dress are the most frequent problems in Superior Court.

“I work in court at Cherry Hospitals on Thursday mornings,” he said. “A lot of peo-ple don’t know we do that, or that we’re in Mount Olive on Fridays. Our bailiff system works really well, in part because of Sgt. King and Capt. Brogden.

“We can run up to six courts at one time. Once judges enter the building, we are re-sponsible for them. I don’t know about any-one else, but if I walk in a courtroom and see three bailiffs, I feel a lot more secure.”

All Rise...

Wayne County Bailiff Joe Sadler, a former N.C. Highway Patrolman, is in his fi rst year as a Bailiff. Sadler has to be prepared at all times to keep order if things get un-ruly or dangerous in the courtroom. (NL photo by Michael Jaenicke)

Wayne County Courthouse bailiffs Joe Sadler, left, Ray Thompson and Tom Swend-burg talk about proceedure during a recent work day. (NL photo by Michael Jae-nicke)