Retired Hagerstown lieutenant files for orphans court judge

July 07, 2006|by PEPPER BALLARD

WASHINGTON COUNTY

Roy "Ted" Hart Jr., a retired Hagerstown Police Department lieutenant, filed on June 28 to seek a four-year term as a Washington County Orphans Court judge.

Hart, 64, of 21705 Ringgold Pike north of Hagerstown, said he misses working with people.

"I'm a good mediator, and I think that's what they need," he said.

The county's three Orphans Court judges, all of whom are up for re-election to a four-year term, meet twice a week to probate wills, set attorneys' fees, settle disputes over estates, and appoint administrators and guardians.

They make $7,000 per year.

Incumbents John M. Shriver and Joseph Eichelberger have filed for re-election. Orphans Court Judge Samuel Bayer did not file.

The deadline to file was Monday. The primary election is Sept. 12, and the general election is Nov. 7.

Hart said he enjoyed working as a security officer at the Washington County Courthouse, a job he took after retiring from the police department in 1999 after 31 years.

At the police department, Hart moved his way up the ranks to lieutenant before retiring. Over the years, he worked in the detective bureau, was a patrol supervisor and, before retiring, was the director of the Western Maryland Police Academy, he said.

After leaving his job as a courthouse security officer in 2001, Hart said he worked as an accreditation manager at the police department.

Hart had to quit that job in 2003 after he developed cancer, which he since has overcome.

Hart said he enjoys woodworking, craft work and landscaping, but misses work.

"I just want to get back into dealing with people again," he said.

In addition to his police work, Hart said he served in the U.S. Army Security Agency as a Morse Code intercept operator for three active years in the early 1960s. He is a certified polygraph examiner, too.

Hart's wife, Sharon Hart, works in customer relations at M&T Bank on Dual Highway. The couple has two daughters, Terri Taylor, who works as a correctional deputy for the Washington County Sheriff's Department, and Krista Cline, who works as an administrative assistant with the county's engineering department.

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