By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Most people are not in the best of moods when they meet Patty Wolf for the first time.
They are usually paying a fine or facing the challenge of a legal matter.
But for 35 years, Wolf has met that challenge with kindness and grace, as she served the Hays Municipal Court.
Wolf, 62, retired from her clerk position last week.
Wolf said she really enjoyed being able to help people better understand the court and their options. The clerk is one of the first people in the court system people deal with. She said being able to help people was her biggest reward from her job.
“Sometimes people get in a position and they don’t know they have options available to them,” she said. “While we can never give advice, [we can] explain options to people to let them know there are other ways to possibly remedy their situation. It was gratifying being able to help individuals.”
In 1984, Wolf had been recently laid off, when she heard there was a position open with the city. She was initially assigned to work as the the Hays PD secretary before being transferred nine months later to the municipal court.
“The city is a great organization to work for,” she said. “They take care of their employees, have great benefits and it was just a fit for me.”
She said she has dealt with some diverse cases over the years, but said she did not want to relate specifics for fear of embarrassing anyone involved. However, she said it did keep her job interesting over the years.
“I really enjoyed working with the patrol,” Wolf said. “They are an amazing group of dedicated, courageous young men and women. I watched as their families made sacrifices to protect me and this community, and I am grateful for their service.
“I have also made a lot of friends along the way,” she added. “There are some great people who work throughout the city of Hays — staff at city hall, our IT department, animal control, dispatch, so I had a lot of contact with them, as well as our judges and prosecutors, attorneys I have met along the way as well and worked with.”
As a clerk of the court, she collected money for tickets, dealt with attorneys and created reports for the court.
Wolf said the biggest change at the court in the last 35 years has been the introduction of technology.
When Wolf started working at the court in the ’80s, the court had hand-written ledgers. The court would eventually make the transition to computers and a large amount of data had to be entered to get that system off the ground.
Now that she is retired, Wolf plans to travel, spend more time with her grandchildren and her mom, go fishing and volunteer.
“I truly enjoyed my work at the city and everyone I worked with — the ladies in the office,” she said. “It was a great work environment. It was like a family there. Everyone was very supportive. That I will truly miss, but I’m on to my next adventure. ”