THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, December 6, 1994 TAG: 9412060360
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
They were all there, the protectors of the Albemarle: the policemen, the judges, the deputies, the prosecutors.
They all gathered Monday afternoon to welcome a new high sheriff, a long-revered title in countless counties across the South.
In a courtroom full of men at arms and the civilians they protect, Randy Cartwright was sworn in as the new sheriff of Pasquotank County, where he was born 33 years ago.
The title of high sheriff goes back to Old England and the times when the sheriff of Nottingham had his hands full with Robin Hood as well as with collecting the king's taxes.
The man responsible for the Monday ceremony sat somberly in a familiar courtroom bailiff's box. Sheriff Davis M. Sawyer Jr.'s 26-year career as a high sheriff ended with the moment when Cartwright said ``I do'' to end the oath-taking.
Sawyer decided to retire this year and Cartwright, with nine years of police experience, ran for Pasquotank sheriff and won both a Democratic primary election and the subsequent race against a Republican candidate.
Sheriffs are more than lawmen in North Carolina. They're politically special - popular men with guns who are expected to be community psychologists, welfare workers and, above all, tax collectors.
It's the sheriff who stands on the courthouse steps and sells a hard-luck citizen's property because of those delinquent tax bills.
And it's the sheriff who ends up not only with visible power but also with enormous influence in a world of entitlements and welfare benefits. The sheriff knows who needs help and who is deserving.
Nobody will ever know how many homes weren't sold for taxes because Sheriff Sawyer decided to give an owner a little more time to find the needed money.
About 200 witnesses crowded into the Pasquotank County courtroom of retired Superior Court Judge J. Herbert W. Small to watch Cartwright take office.
Most of them were Democrats - because from the moment of his elevation, Cartwright became a powerful political icon whose deftness as a party leader, as well as his skills as a lawman, will have a lot to do with how Pasquotank citizens vote on local issues and candidates in the future.
For some in the courtroom, tomorrow's politics began as quickly as the swearing-in ceremony concluded.
Sitting quietly in the courtroom was William C. ``Bill'' Owens Jr. Owens is giving up a job as Pasquotank County commissioner because he was elected in November to the 1st N.C. House seat in the General Assembly. Now the Pasquotank commissioners will have to appoint a successor to serve the remaining two years of Owens' term as commissioner.
A lot of older Democrats in Pasquotank hope former Sheriff Sawyer is selected to succeed Owens.
But younger Democrats, who feel they had a lot to do with electing the new - and young - Pasquotank sheriff, think that the 67-year old Sawyer has had his day in the political sun. The young Democrats are talking about selecting a woman to succeed Owens, a ploy that would be hard for the popular Sawyer to beat.
There is only one female commissioner on the current seven-member county board. by CNB