Veteran Bangor jury officer honored Dottie Chaison given Royce Award for 38 years of courtroom service

A courtroom can be a very intimidating place. The judge in the black robe, the ceremonial announcement of “all rise,” the uniformed bailiffs guarding the door can all be a bit overwhelming.

But for the thousands of jurors who have passed through the Penobscot County courthouse during the past four decades, one 4-foot, 11-inch woman with a wide smile has made the whole experience just a bit more user friendly.

With her oversized purse at the ready, Dorothy (Dottie) Chaison has guided countless citizens through their duty as jurors.

Need a cough drop? Got it. The honey ones work best. Have an upset stomach? Surely there’s an antacid in here somewhere. A tissue? Got plenty of them.

Tuesday the pint-sized dynamo, sometimes referred to as the “commandant” by one of the state’s most respected jurists, was honored with one of the judiciary’s most touching and honored awards for her 38 years of service to the judiciary.

As the chief justice of the Maine Supreme Court, Leigh I. Saufley, chatted nearby, Chaison looked over at her and asked, “Isn’t she just the sweetest thing?”

Chaison was caught off guard Tuesday as about 50 of her co-workers and court dignitaries gathered at the Penobscot County courthouse to honor the 81-year-old woman who has no immediate plans for retirement.

Chaison of Bangor began her duties as the jury officer at the county courthouse in 1967. Since then she has spent her days catering to the needs of the jurors who perhaps play the most crucial role in our judicial system.

She is their link to the outside world while they focus on the matters at hand in the courtroom. She replenishes supplies such as water and coffee, she hands out their badges and provides a vital link between the jurors and the judges presiding over the case.

Perhaps a juror has a family emergency during a trial. Chaison deals with it and ensures the judge knows what’s going on.

Chaison’s co-workers nominated her for the annual Roy Rice award, which honors those courthouse workers who go above and beyond to provide a safe and friendly environment to those thrust into an otherwise strange and intimidating system.

“Dottie offers tireless attention to the safety, comfort and accommodation of our jurors. She brings a distinctly human touch to her extensive knowledge of the particulars of the jury officer’s position. I cannot count the number of glowing juror feedback comments I have received regarding Dottie. Virtually every comment from jurors refers in some manner to the kind treatment they received at the hands of court personnel – Dottie has set this standard for almost four decades,” wrote one judge who works closely with her.

It may be the big trials and the big wins and the big important opinions that make the headlines and that’s OK with Chaison.

But what’s important to her is the integrity of the judicial process, which she didn’t learn from law school, but rather from her front row seat for the past 38 years.

She knows the importance of the jury in that process and she knows what her role is.

There have been times when the more flamboyant lawyers have caused her to chuckle, but only outside the courtroom. There have been jurors that have tested her patience.

“Sometimes you just have to talk to them a bit,” she says with a wink and a grin.

“I guess the biggest thing is that at 81 I’m afraid that if I don’t go to work, I may not get up and get going. I may get sick. I just love getting up and coming to work and doing my job,” she said.