{"id":7705,"date":"2022-06-27T19:18:45","date_gmt":"2022-06-27T19:18:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/?p=7705"},"modified":"2023-03-27T15:59:48","modified_gmt":"2023-03-27T15:59:48","slug":"problem-solving-starship-archie-and-making-all-families-count-longtime-court-clerk-bids-adieu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2022\/06\/27\/problem-solving-starship-archie-and-making-all-families-count-longtime-court-clerk-bids-adieu\/","title":{"rendered":"Problem-solving, ‘Starship Archie’ and making all families count: longtime court clerk bids adieu"},"content":{"rendered":"
In the 20 years since Archie Smith III took over as Durham County Clerk of the Superior Court, he has seen much change. The Durham metro area population skyrocketed by around 129,000. Three different mayors have sat on city council. High-rise apartments have overtaken the Brightleaf and Warehouse districts. The court system even migrated down the block to a new building.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cDurham, the town that you see, is not the town that I grew up in,\u201d Smith said. He added: \u201cEvery evolution of Durham is exciting to me.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Except that the newest evolution of Durham\u2019s court system does not include him.<\/span><\/p>\n In May of 2022, Smith lost re-election to newcomer Aminah Thompson, and in December, he will return to civilian life. Change has finally caught up with the man who was the center of the courts for twenty years. And he says he is okay with that.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cTime flies,\u201d he said quietly. Later he added,\u201cShake your fist at the storm, and you\u2019re gonna get wet!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Smith, a Durham native and NCCU School of Law graduate, described the clerk\u2019s office as \u201cthe hub of the court system.\u201d Smith rattled off all the different duties taken on by him and his staff of 72; in addition to keeping records for courthouse proceedings (which the internet appears to think is the clerk\u2019s only job), the role includes judging probate, appointing guardians for minors, overseeing incompetency cases, and settling general disputes. Phew.<\/span><\/p>\n Smith, whose chatty, jovial presence puts strangers at ease, thrives under the pressure. He describes his job as a professional problem solver\u2014when a case comes across his desk, it leaves resolved. \u201cProbably one of the best things about being the clerk,\u201d Smith said, \u201cis that I\u2019m challenged every day.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Durham County District Attorney Satana DeBerry emphasized Smith\u2019s dedication to conquering daunting tasks. The two collaborated on the Durham Expunction and Restoration Program, a reform effort that expunges records that prevent Durham residents from regaining their drivers\u2019 licenses. Together they worked to waive older traffic for over 35,000 Durham residents and 1,200 petitions for expungement.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThat required tremendous lift from the clerk, and he certainly could\u2019ve said no to that,\u201d DeBerry said of Smith. \u201cBut he was enthusiastic about being involved in making that happen.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Smith\u2019s legacy does not stop there. LGBTQ+ groups have long endorsed him due to his support for the development of landmark second parent adoption procedures in Durham starting around 2004. This historic process allowed same-sex couples to have both parents recognized on birth certificates and other legal documents before same-sex marriage was legalized in 2015.<\/span><\/p>\n Smith had the choice to turn away documents requesting a second name, but he fought for them, said attorney Cheri Patrick. It was not a popular choice, but \u201che did it because he believes that all families are important,\u201d she said. \u201cThat all families count.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Smith has brought all types of families together across Durham County, and created one right in the courthouse, too. \u201cIt\u2019s not your usual workplace atmosphere,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re conscious of that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The office is shockingly close-knit for its size. Smith points to photos of hundreds of his employees over the years, recounting fond memories, such as when employee Pam Apple bought his granddaughter her first Easter basket.<\/span><\/p>\n Smith encourages all of his clerks and assistants to bring their children into the office if necessary (for instance, if childcare falls through or there is a teacher workday), and as he says, they all become aunts and uncles for the day. \u201cThe Starship Archie,\u201d as Smith has nicknamed his office, is stocked with chocolates and toys for the children to play with, as his granddaughters, now 16 and 10, once did.<\/span><\/p>\n Smith\u2019s granddaughters were well-known faces around the office when they were children. As he showed me around the courtroom, Smith picked up the gavel sound block riddled with dents and scratches.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI have never used one of these in court in 20 years,\u201d he laughed. \u201cMy eldest granddaughter, she would put on my old robe, and she would sit in this chair with myself and a couple of lawyers, and she would hold court and bang on this.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n In just under six months, Smith will leave the bench when Thompson steps into the role. Thompson, the first African-American clerk elected in Durham history, is a fresh face on the scene. Smith had not seen an opponent for the county clerk position since 2002, but Thompson barreled into office with 65% of the vote in May.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Her agenda of reform and modernization won the endorsement of the People\u2019s Alliance, a key political organization that had long supported Smith. To Smith, this shift of support was a major reason for his loss. \u201cIt was simply politics,\u201d Smith said, throwing up his hands.<\/span><\/p>\n DeBerry, despite being fond of Smith, says Thompson may be the better choice to bring Durham\u2019s courts into the future as North Carolina moves towards E-Courts (court records kept in the cloud rather than in physical copies) and becomes more technologically sophisticated.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI think that it just takes a different mindset,\u201d said DeBerry. \u201cI don\u2019t know that [Smith] would have led the charge.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n So what\u2019s next for Smith? He gushed about spending more time with his wife of 24 years and granddaughters, which he has put off over his years as clerk. He also hopes to do more with organizations like the Durham Sports Club and his Masonic lodge, and get started on long-neglected repair projects.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll clear the decks,\u201d Smith said with a laugh. \u201cI have got a whole laundry list of projects and things I haven\u2019t been able to have the time for.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n As Smith has watched Durham transform, he relies on things he calls \u201canchors,\u201d little pieces of the city that never seem to change. The Lucky Strike smokestack, the Sower statue on Duke\u2019s East Campus, the historic Durham Athletic Park: \u201cThey\u2019re where you get your anchor to the community and to yourself.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n And after two decades as the hub of Durham\u2019s criminal justice system, for many, Smith has become an anchor himself.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHe is from a different time in Durham, when it was much more of a small town,\u201d DeBerry said. \u201cA guy like him who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks, so to speak, could grow up to go to law school and have a real impact on his community.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n She added: \u201cThose kinds of guys don\u2019t come along anymore.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Above: Photo of Archie Smith by Maddie Wray \u2014 The 9th Street Journal\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the 20 years since Archie Smith III took over as Durham County Clerk of the Superior Court, he has seen much change. The Durham…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7710,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-courthouse-project","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n