by Danna Martínez
Women’s History Month celebrates and recognizes the achievements, contributions, and successes of women. Women’s contribution is vital to building and strengthening today’s society and planning and executing future communities’ advances.
The celebration began as “Women’s History Week” national celebration in 1981-1982. Years later, Congress passed Pub. L. 100-9, which designated March 1987 as “Women’s History Month.” Since 1995, presidents have announced a series of yearly proclamations designating March as “Women’s History Month.”
To learn and highlight an important woman’s work roles, the Bladen Online team met with Mrs. Niki Dennis, Bladen County Clerk of Superior Court.
Mrs. Dennis was born in Elizabethtown, NC, where she still resides; she has worked with the Clerk of Court system since 1979. As Mrs. Dennis expressed in the interview, she has been a lover of her profession since the first job with the court system. At the age of 25, Mrs. Dennis was hired as a Deputy Clerk and dedicated herself to her work. Climbing the latter, she is now the elected Bladen County Clerk of Superior Court. She has remained faithful, and almost 43 years later, she serves people with humble adoration.
There are 100 counties in North Carolina, and each has a judicial system. Therefore, each district has a Clerk of Superior Court, who the citizens elect. It wasn’t until 2006 that Mrs. Dennis had the opportunity to run for Clerk of Superior Court.
Within her functions as the High Clerk, Mrs. Dennis is in charge of the court’s administration. She has 12 employees under her responsibility, each with specific functions and roles. She supervises and ensures that each position is functioning correctly. Ensuring the Office of the Clerk of Courts is efficient and up to date with all the responsibilities and challenges presented is not easy. The Bladen County Courthouse where Mrs. Dennis works has multiple departments. There is the criminal department, the estate and special procedures department, the civil department, the juvenile department, the domestic violence department, and a cashier department.
“We collect an awful lot of money here for traffic violations and lots other things, and we have to make sure that money is accounted for,” Mrs. Dennis said, “the State audits us to make sure the money is accounted and not mishandled.”
Mrs. Dennis also serves as a probate judge for specific procedures. Another role of the Clerk of Superior Court is to summon the juries in the courts and ensure the courts have the proper equipment.
The position chose her, Mrs. Dennis explains her mom’s neighbor was the Clerk of Courts. She said, “I started at the bottom. I love it. It’s very interesting. I love helping people.”
She continued, “I think people need a friendly face when they come into the courts because a lot of times they are frightened or nervous, and we are here to help them.”
For Mrs. Dennis, her contribution to society starts by offering the best attitude, a friendly welcome, helping people. She strives to be the best at her job by ensuring her office serves the public correctly and provides the tools needed to navigate the court system.
However, there are always stones on the road. According to Mrs. Dennis, challenges and unexpected situations arise daily and must be handled as well as possible in the shortest possible time. Mrs. Dennis tells us that despite all the difficulties, as a person, she strives to be fair, respectful, and professional. In her words, “You get what you give.”
According to Mrs. Dennis, many persons, males and females, have impacted her life and have helped her grow. She also told us about the great knowledge she has acquired personally and professionally throughout her time as a court system worker.
“Be kind to folks, and make sure that you are helpful in every way. Show them you are very worthy of the respect that you give. The respect you give is the respect you get back.” – Niki Dennis
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