COURTHOUSE VETERAN READY TO RETIRE

By Ray King/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF

For almost 15 years, defendants, witnesses, jurors and attorneys have heard the words, “Jefferson County Circuit Court is now in session, the honorable judge Berlin C. Jones is presiding, please be seated and turn off your cellular telephones” from bailiff Charley Cook, followed by “How you doing this time Judge Berlin C. Jones?”

On Jan. 31, Cook will repeat those same words for the last time at a session of drug court, then at probable cause hearings before heading off to retirement.

“I’m 88 years old and I’ve worked for 70 years or better,” the man everybody around the courthouse calls “Mr. Cook” said Friday while Jones was conducting an orientation session for a new jury panel in the courtroom where Cook has become a fixture.

Born and raised on the east side of Pine Bluff, Cook credited his parents with instilling a work ethic and positive attitude in him at an early age.

“My father and mother would always tell us, no matter what you do, work for what you want, tell the truth, and treat people like you want to be treated,” he said.

He’s had a variety of jobs in his lifetime, starting out with the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s, spending 30 years at the Pine Bluff Arsenal and another seven at the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff before he got a telephone call about his present position.

“Judge Jones’ wife was my late wife’s second cousin and she called my wife and said tell Charley to come up, judge needs somebody to be a bailiff,” Cook said.

Believing he wasn’t qualified, Cook said he was hesitant about the job, even after two more calls from Jones’ wife.

“That morning, eating breakfast, I told my wife let’s pray so we prayed and I asked the Lord, I said, ‘Lord, if it’s for me to get the job let me get it, but Lord if I’m not qualified, let the best qualified man get the job,’” he said.

After a lengthy interview with the judge, Cook said Jones told him to go home and think about it, then let him know.

“I said, ‘Judge, I don’t have to do that because when I left home, I talked to the Lord about it,’ and he said, ‘You’ve got the job,’” Cook said. “From that time on, I’ve been working here.”

He also remembered some of his early days as a bailiff for Jones.

“When I first started here, I was kind of shaky because so many criminals would come in here but I said Lord I’m trusting in you,” he said.

Cook also remembered several incidents involving small children who had been brought to the courtroom by mothers, and whose crying disrupted the proceedings.

“I give the mother a chance to get the baby rectified, and if they don’t do it, then I have to tell them to take the baby out and I would put them in the room where the porters used to be,” he said.

“One time I put three babies in the room and Ms. (Sylvia) Knight came in and said, ‘what did Mr. Cook do to you all? Mr. Cook is a mean old man to put you all in here and the mothers looked at me and kind of rolled their eyes but I told them, ‘Look, this is my job,’” Cook explained.

He also talked fondly of people he’s come into contact with who followed his advice.

“Sometimes I tell guys, ‘Don’t you come back here any more unless you’ve come here to testify,’” Cook said. “I said, ‘What I want you to do, young man, is go to church, get a job and get you a family.’”

He related a recent encounter with a man while both were washing their cars who obviously took what Cook said to heart.

“I’m the one you told to get a job, go to church, do this and that and get a family, and I did everything you said,” Cook explained. “You’ve got to know how to treat people. Put your self in their shoes and it’s not what you say, it’s how you say it but I do like to talk to people.

“Since I’ve been here, I think the Lord has, through me, changed their minds and some of them did better and some did worse but that’s life,” he said.

Even though he’s not going to be working, Cook said he’s not ready for the retirement home just yet.

“I want to visit some of our sick church members,” said Cook, who’s a member of Pleasant Grove Baptist Church. “Some of them have been sick for a long time and when people are sick, they think the church doesn’t care about them but I want to let them know, yes I care about you.”

After that is accomplished, Cook said he plans to spend a lot of time on the golf course.

“Some days I play like I had never learned to hit a ball and another day, I hit the jackpot, had five birdies, and I’ve had two hole-in-ones, one at Jaycee Golf Course and one at Harbor Oaks,” said Cook, who also holds a championship win in a tournament at Harbor Oaks.

A visit to some of his children, who are scattered across the country is also on the agenda.

“I think I owe those things to myself because I’ve been working all my life,” he concluded.