Becky Spragins says through six elections in her career as Halifax County clerk of court, she believes it’s been her skill as a listener that’s helped keep her in office.

On Saturday her nearly 43-year career in the clerk’s office comes to a close.

“I think listening is very important,” the Roanoke Rapids native said Wednesday. “Some people just want you to hear what they have to say and as long as they understand what your judgment or your decision is then I think they’re OK with it.”

Sympathy comes with the job but, she says, “I have to follow the law regardless.”

Her 42 years and 10 months in the clerk’s office began on March 22, 1982. In January 2001 former Resident Superior Court Judge Dwight Cranford appointed Spragins clerk of court after Hayes Neathery Askew announced her retirement.

A graduate of Roanoke Rapids High School, she graduated from East Carolina University with a business degree with a concentration in finance.

Her initial intent was getting into banking and she also briefly considered social work. “At the time jobs were really hard to find. When I came back home I knew this job was available and it took me three months to get it.”

It became, she said, the best job she ever had. “This is the most rewarding job that any person can have. It’s stressful, but I always tell my staff if you can help one person every day then you’ve accomplished something because I feel like that’s what the clerk’s office is all about — helping people.”

The job and decision to retire

Unbeknownst to some of the public, court clerks are there after family members die. “They cry in our office and we cry with them.”

Then there is the joy of adoptions. “Adoptions are a happy thing. We get to rejoice with people. The clerk is the only person that can make a family.”

Of course, there are many things clerks by law have to do that don’t make people happy. She says, however, “I think people need to know that even though they’re going through a hard time, my staff gets a lot of notes (saying) ‘thank you for being kind to me today.’ There are so many things that the public doesn’t know about what the clerk does.”

There are a myriad of things that go on behind the scenes in the clerk’s office — overseeing civil and criminal divisions, overseeing cashiers and bookkeepers, overseeing seeing juvenile court records, child support records, and small claims. “But the clerk’s most important job is being a judge of probate in estate matters.”

Then there are special proceedings that give them the authority to hear adoptions, land partitions, and name changes. “We do condemnations, foreclosures, and claim and delivery hearings.”

Then there are summary divorces, which are uncontested divorces, which can be entered by the clerk. 

There is a staff of 19 to do these jobs when once there were 23.

Now, she says it’s just time to retire.

“I’ve given the major portion of my life as a public servant to the county of Halifax. I got married when I was working in the clerk’s office. I’ve had children,” she said. “I basically grew up here. I love my job but I think at some point and time it’s time to do something different. I want to go see people I haven’t seen in a long time. If a clerk’s office needs me to fill in, I’ll be glad to do that like in the western part of the state.”

Changes

When she came onboard in 1982, she and other staff were indexing in big heavy books. “We would take the pages out, type them and put them back in the books,” she said. “I used the mimeograph machine to do court calendars. I had really good muscles from lifting the books and using the mimeograph machine.”

All of this took place at what is the Historic Courthouse on King Street before the move to the new complex on Ferrell Lane. 

It was there in addition to the actual work of the office that staff babysat children when there parents were in court or jail. “We’ve killed snakes, we rescued cats and fed dogs.”

Then came the Automated Criminal Information System around 1987 or 1988. “We had to learn a new system and we had to work really hard to get that information in that system.”

Spragins is leaving just as the state court system is preparing for electronic court records, which will go live on April 28. “I’ve been waiting for e-records for quite a long time,” she said. “I had been on a civil e-filing committee and it never got anywhere. I’ve waited long enough because I was hoping to get e-courts and then COVID happened. When COVID happened that put a lot of extra stress on the office. We thought we would get it but I can’t keep waiting to see e-courts.”

Changes, Part II

Throughout her career there have been more changes in technology, which includes VICAP — the Civil Case Processing System — and NCAWARE — the North Carolina Statewide Warrant Repository.

“I’ve watched us get family courts. We have drug court and teen court — all these courts have been added since I’ve been clerk.”

Then there is the Liberty Digital Court Recorder, which replaces court reporters in civil district court. “We’re actually doing the recording in civil district now. Basically the clerk is the court reporter in the courtrooms. The court really needs a hearing room for security purposes as well as to be able to record. With the new computer system we’re going to need more equipment and staff anyway.”

COVID brought along changes in the way court business was handled, Spragins said. “Before COVID we didn’t have Zoom meetings or Webex. It’s helped with security. You don’t have to bring people over from the jail. It’s great for incompetencies when people are in the hospital.”

Differences in the justice system

From the time she started until now there were less murders in the county, she said. “I could count on my hand how many murders we had. Now there’s so many I can’t keep up with them anymore.”

She sees a change in the efficiency of the court system. “I don’t think we utilize our court time like we should. When we used to have court, we tried cases all day long. Cases don’t get tried anymore.”

There are very few trials now and she understands the need for plea deals. “You can’t manage a docket if you don’t take pleas but then we actually tried cases. They may not have taken 30 minutes, but people had their day in court. I’ve heard so many people say, ‘I just want to have a sayso.’”

A lot of it, she said, is legislation. “I think there are more requirements on the DA’s office to furnish discovery. I really think it’s everybody’s part.”

An oath to uphold the law and highlights

When Spragins talks about sympathizing with people, she says, “I really do, but I also have an obligation because I’ve taken an oath to uphold the law and that’s what I have to focus on. There are things you have to do because you take that responsibility and you take that oath.”

She says the highlight of her career has been getting to know a lot of people in the community. “We have some of the best people in Halifax County. They have been very gracious to me. They’ve been very kind to me. I’ve just always wanted people in my community to be proud of me. We’ve had chief justices from Halifax County years and years ago and we’ve had very respected judges. I just didn’t want to let anybody down.”

Another reason to retire

Also factoring in her decision to retire are her children — Joshua, who lives in Charlotte, and Jacob and his wife Katy Ann, who live in Mooresville. “I want to see my children more often.”

For colleagues already in retirement, she says it’s been good to them. “Everybody told me you just know and I didn’t know until this last election.”

She had people asking her in the last election to run again. “I was on the fence but it really hadn’t hit me like a brick or anything so I hung in there because I enjoy my job. I’ve served in almost every office in the clerk’s conference, I serve on the Governor’s Crime Commission and I go to the legislature to advocate for clerks. People have been very kind to me. I just wanted to do good things for my county.”

The biggest influence

She said Askew was the biggest influence in her career. “She was my biggest cheerleader. I think she saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself. She encouraged me and just had faith in me. She made me want to do good things.”

Words of advice to the new clerk

On Tuesday, Halifax County Senior Superior Court Judge Brenda Branch released a statement saying Lisa Turner had been appointed clerk of court.

Spragins said Turner will “have to rely on the staff and trust the staff, but she’s going to have to make the hard decisions and they’re not always easy.”

The rule of thumb is a clerk can hardly learn the job in a year. “From what clerks have talked about, it takes 18 months just to train because there’s a lot of procedures and the legislature continues to change the law after we learn it.”

Changes in laws are not always bad, Spragins said. “You learn procedure first and then we learn the law. We learn to do the work and then we have to go back and look at why we do what we do.”

Staff

Over the years she has come to see her staff as family. “You get to know their families. Most of my staff stayed here for 20 years before they retired. I am only as good as my staff. I tried to give them as much training and support as I could because I can’t do my job without my staff. One of the major things I will miss about my job is seeing my staff on a regular basis.”