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http://www.omniture.com --> Sections Home Page Local News AP News AP Entertainment Archives Business Classifieds Event Calendar Forums Life Opinion Obituaries Photo Gallery Readers Photo Gallery Sports Tempo Weather Special Coverage 2006 Britt Festivals --> Shop Our Valley AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Search Our Valley Special Sections Distinctly Northwest Readers' Choice Homelife Magazine Joy Magazine Holiday Guide Oregon Golf Info Oregon Wine Info Other Publications Local Links Ashland News eSouthernOregon Newspapers In Education Personals Moving Here Movie Listings TV Listings Volunteer Customer Service Advertise With Us Media Kit Place Classified Ad Contact Us FAQ's Home Delivery Site Map --> Email Story to a Friend December 24, 2006 Nancy Wilkes is the longest-serving judicial employee in Oregon at 50 years and running. (Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli) A half century of public service Starting out answering phones at age 20, Nancy Wilkes is now the longest-serving judicial employee in the state and has no plans to retire By John Darling for the Mail Tribune MEDFORD — She started at her job in 1956 as the only legal secretary in the local circuit court. Nancy Wilkes was 20. Fifty years later, she's something of a rare species in this world of serial job shifting: She's still at the same job, has served longer than any employee in the statewide judicial system and has no intention of retiring. "Why should I? As long as my health holds, I'm going to be here," says the spry Wilkes, who just got treated to a banquet at Rogue Valley Country Club with 174 judges, lawyers and legal workers in attendance. When she started at the old Jackson County Courthouse, Wilkes had just moved here from Lakeview, where she'd worked for a lawyer in her teen years. Her desk was in the corner of the big courtroom, where she worked as legal secretary for Judge Herbert K. Hanna (son of the county's very first judge, Heiro K. Hanna) — and the phone rang only once on the first day. "He needed someone to answer the dumb phone and I wondered what the heck I was doing there," joked Wilkes. "After he learned I could type and take shorthand, we moved on to doing mental hearings, which were done in court, not in 2-North," she said, referring to the mental hold ward at Rogue Valley Medical Center. Advertisement When honored at an office party last week, her boss, Judge Rebecca Orf, and fellow employees did a put-on "mental hearing," where they decided anyone who held her job 50 years needed "care, custody and control." Wilkes worked for many of the well-known circuit judges of past decades, including James Main, L.A. Merryman and Edward C. Kelley, and judiciously observes, "as Judge (Phil) Arnold would say, 'They're all my favorites and all have been wonderful to work for.' " Far from tiring of her crucial job as judicial assistant, Wilkes says her 18,250 days at the same post (she had some weekends, holidays and vacations in there somewhere) have been enjoyable, and "time comes and goes and there's never a dull moment." Has there been much change in criminals, crimes or cases since the relatively sleepy days of the 1950s? Not much. "Back then, we still had criminals all the time and when I started, the big case was about a state policeman who was shot. The big change is there's more paperwork, more rules and regulations. It's more difficult for the public to understand, especially if they're trying to be their own attorney." There are also new layers of administration (and paperwork) in her tenure, with the advent of family court, mediation, legal aid, family parenting classes and "all kinds of hoops." As everyone knows, the courts are in "overload," she notes, and digital processing helps, but the state still requires original paper documents, with e-mail or faxes serving only as informational backup. As you might expect with someone on the job for five decades, Wilkes "has a great knowledge of every department in the court system and is great to work with," says Sandy Turell, lead clerk in the Juvenile Department. Says Judge Orf, who started work with Wilkes in 1994, "She taught me and many young lawyers how to file paperwork with the court, and it's been a delight to have her. She'd sound like a Girl Scout if I named her good qualities — loyal, dependable, trustworthy and wonderful to work with. I won't let her retire until I do." John Darling is a freelance writer living in Ashland. E-mail him at [email protected]. Would you like to respond to this story? If so Click Here to visit our forums. Advertisement Copyright © 1997-2007 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback online casinos news Home Security Systems Online Casino Reviews Men's Clothing Fundraisers UK Homeowner Loans Discount Hotel Reservations Send Flowers Casinos Canada Texas Electric Choice Compare Electric rates in Texas Windermere Van Vleet Trunks, Footlocker Online poker at AbsolutePoker.com