10 years after retiring, APD veteran returns as magistrate

ASHEBORO — Maxine Wright, at 62, is giving up her 10-year retirement to go back to full-time work.

She left the Asheboro Police Department on Feb. 1, 2015, after 30 years, having attained the rank of master lieutenant. Wright was the first female to earn a lieutenancy with the department and was well-known in the city. When she retired, she was over Criminal Investigations.

So, what’s her incentive for going back to work?

“Several people, including Clark Bell and other attorneys, said (the local judiciary system) was looking for new magistrates. They told me, ‘We think you would make a great magistrate because you have dealt with them a lot.’ ”

So Wright applied for the position, was nominated by Clerk of Court Pam Hill, and Superior Court Judge Jimmy Hill approved her appointment. She was slated to be sworn in on Jan. 1.

As a police officer, Wright said, she had maintained a good working relationship with local magistrates. “An officer has to have the correct information” when arresting a suspect. “We need to be able to work together,” Wright said of her dealings with magistrates. 

It’s something that has to be learned, she said, adding that she’s worked with young police officers to help them present all the information the magistrate will need to set bonds, for example.

“The older magistrates taught me a lot when I first started,” Wright said. “It’s been an important relationship.”

Now, she’ll be on the other side of the relationship as the magistrate. 

Besides setting bonds for defendants, a magistrate can also issue criminal search warrants and sometimes may preside over small claims court in the civil division. They can even perform weddings. But that likely will be down the road for Wright.

Once she’s sworn in, she’ll need to attend a school for magistrates, spending time studying the criminal and civil divisions. Then she’ll be led by an experienced magistrate while she learns the ropes.

“I am excited and a little anxious,” Wright said of her new job. She said her anxiety stems from the launch of a new online court documents system. “That’s probably my biggest challenge, learning the system,” she said, but noting that she’s familiar with computers.

A magistrate reports to the chief magistrate, who is under the chief District Court judge who is under the Superior Court judge. 

Much of the magistrate’s work deals with setting bonds for those who have been charged with crimes. There are a number of criteria that have to be looked at to determine a bond, Wright said.

“For certain criminal offenses, the magistrate has no discretion,” but is limited by the court system, she said. In some cases, the Superior Court judge gives a recommendation for the bond and the magistrate adheres to that. If the judge issues an order for arrest, it may come with a preset bond.

In other cases, such as when an officer brings in a defendant, the magistrate must ask, is the person eligible for a bond? Then the magistrate asks questions such as: Does the defendant have a history of offenses? Does the person work, have strong ties to the community, is a flight risk?

“There are a lot of things to consider, a number of factors involved,” Wright said.

As a police officer, she said, “I wrote search warrants for the magistrate to approve. They issue search warrants for everyday things like a crime scene or a search for drugs in a house or car.

“There must be probable cause,” Wright said, before a warrant can be signed off on. “Probable cause is kind of like, it’s more than likely there’s enough evidence for a case to move forward.”

Asked to illustrate probable cause, Wright considered her years of experience in law enforcement before a specific case came to her mind.

She was off duty one day and was in a grocery store when she noticed a woman come in who she knew had been banned from the store for shoplifting. Wright followed the woman and saw her pick up two packages of meat.

As the woman pushed her shopping cart to the front, Wright confronted her by asking, “What happened to the meat? It’s not in the cart.”

Wright said when the woman threw up her hands in protest, the two packages of meat fell out of her coat. “I arrested her and explained (the facts) to the magistrate, who found probable cause and set bond.”

Once Wright is sworn in and receives her training, she’ll likely be working 24-hour shifts. 

“It’s going to be a whole new world for me,” she said. “I’m still young enough to work. I’m not ready to sit down in a rocking chair.”