Order removes judge’s new furniture

By BOB HIGH

More than $4,600 worth of furniture – a desk, two office chairs, a desk chair, two bookcases and a love seat – were returned to a Whiteville business Wednesday afternoon after Chief District Court Judge Jerry Jolly entered a civil order to remove the items from District Court Judge Marion Warren’s courthouse annex office.

Jolly’s action came after the furniture was delivered Monday to furnish a space renovated for Warren by county workers – at the direction of the county manager. Warren said Wednesday he needed a quiet, private location to handle juvenile and child support court business.

Warren and fellow District Court Judge Napoleon Barefoot III – both residents of Brunswick County – and Judge Nancy Phillips of Bladen County were assigned a small office to share in the renovated courthouse annex.

Jolly issued an order at noon Wednesday for County Manager Jim Varner to have the furniture out of Warren’s office by 5 p.m. Wednesday or face a court hearing today to show cause why the furniture was not removed.

A truck from Cox’s Warehouse Discount Furniture removed the items from Warren’s office at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Jolly is incensed that Warren did not consult him about arranging for a private office, different from the one assigned him, plus purchasing the furniture and charging it to Columbus County taxpayers.

“It’s outrageous that he was spending the taxpayers’ money that way. Judge Warren will not have a private office in Columbus County paid for by our taxpayers,” Jolly declared.

Gross arrogance

The request for the furniture by Warren “displays gross arrogance, selfishness and thoughtlessness and shows a total disregard for the best interests” of the citizens of Columbus County, Jolly’s order reads.

Jolly, a resident of Tabor City, noted the furniture was requested without the chief district judge’s knowledge, and the approval of the purchase by Varner “shows a total and gross disregard for the best interests” of the county’s taxpayers.

Jolly also noted that Varner, while managing Columbus County’s government, is a resident of Brunswick County, and that prior to the furniture being delivered, an adequate desk had been furnished to Warren.

The irate judge also noted that Columbus County’s commissioners raised the tax rate in July, and the requesting and approval of the furniture “shows a total lack of sensitivity by Judge Warren and County Administrator Varner to the financial conditions of Columbus County and its taxpayers.”

Jolly also said the purchase of the furniture and approval of the deal “brings well deserved disrepute and contempt on the District Court Judges of Columbus County.”

Offices assigned

Speaking by telephone Wednesday afternoon, Jolly said he and fellow Columbus County resident District Court Judges Tom Aldridge and Doug Sasser have individual offices in the courthouse annex.

“Visiting district court judges will use a shared office, and if there is more than one from another county holding court here, then the senior judge will take the office provided for them, and the other judge can use the conference room or a small cubicle near where the legal assistant is working,” Jolly declared.

Warren and Barefoot have large offices in their home county of Brunswick, and Phillips has a larger office in her home county of Bladen, Jolly pointed out.

The furniture was billed to the county on July 10, according to a paper attached to Jolly’s order, and the total cost was $4,633.10.

Delivered Monday was an “executive” desk, two “accent chairs,” a desk chair, a leather loveseat and two bookcases.

Varner said Wednesday that he told all of the District Court judges that they could order what furniture they needed, and, “I’m not going to apologize for that.”

Warren’s explanation

Warren explained late Wednesday his position in the matter. He noted that out of 23 court days in August he would be in Columbus County 11 days.

“I appreciate the trust Judge Jolly has in me to handle the juvenile and child support cases over here.

“More than 50 percent of the Columbus County people I see in these two courts receive some kind of public assistance. It hurts me for anyone to believe that I would use my position to place at a further disadvantage anyone in Columbus County, particularly a taxpayer,” Warren declared.

He noted that when the judges were preparing to move from two other locations to the courthouse annex, he asked Jolly if he could help coordinate the move, and Jolly allowed him to be part of the planning.

“I thought, because of that, I could order the furniture while we were making the move,” the Brunswick County judge said.

“In retrospect, I should have asked Judge Jolly first, but since it was a county building, and they had done the remodeling, moving and other things, I didn’t think it was a difficulty,” Warren added.

Varner visits

“I was in the small office made for me to share one day in July and Mr. Varner came by and noticed a small used desk and two used chairs. I had gotten a metal chair from another location because I couldn’t sit in one of the chairs originally placed in the room.

“Mr. Varner saw my furniture and asked if I didn’t need something better, and he offered to get furniture for other judges, too. He said that if I went to his office he had some catalogues we could look at and order some better furniture,” Warren continued.

“We went through the catalogues and settled on some items. A couple of weeks went by and Varner told me what we wanted wasn’t in stock any longer,” the judge said.

Warren said, “Trying to keep the business in Columbus County, I suggested to Mr. Varner that we use the same place (Cox’s Discount Warehouse Furniture) he used in getting a conference table for us.”

Warren said he picked out the desk ($895), the two accent chairs ($500), a desk chair ($350), and two bookcases ($1,590), and as he was walking to the front of Cox’s Discount Warehouse Furniture he made a joking remark, “It sure would be nice to have that loveseat so I could stretch out.”

The leather loveseat ($995) was included in the delivery, and the total cost was $4,330, plus $303.10 in sales taxes.

‘Incredible respect’

“I’ve been in Bladen County Monday, Tuesday and today (Wednesday). I haven’t even seen the furniture in the office,” Warren added.

“I have incredible respect for Judge Jolly and regret my lack of communication resulted in this misunderstanding,” Warren went on to say.

“I need a private place, away from normal court traffic, for juvenile court. We need to discuss and review reports; most of them are received the day of court, regarding the juvenile proceedings.

“For instance, I recently took an assistant DA and defense attorney to a more private place in the courthouse annex to review a child’s evaluations so we could decide what should be done.

“It took much less court time and the parties were freer to talk and I got more straight forward information quicker than usual,” Warren declared.

He said he saved court time by preventing a courtroom hearing, and didn’t have to use a court bailiff to keep people away from the little office assigned to him beside the entrance to the judges’ office complex – formerly used to house the county’s Cooperative Extension staff.

“This allowed the bailiff to maintain normal security procedures,” Warren said.