Balance is crucial to the functionality of the justice system. Balance has to be found between right and wrong, the victim’s rights versus the rights of a defendant and even the punishment for violating the law.

Magistrates are crucial to that balance.

“We stand on the balance pole between law enforcement and citizens,” Nash County magistrate Phil Coates said. “We have to uphold the rights of citizens while determining whether a law has been violated or not.”

Coates said that balance always interested him and after working as a Rocky Mount police officer for almost 10 years, he switched from law enforcement to the judicial side of the justice system.

“There is a lot of depth involved in determining whether a law has been violated or not and to make that determination interested me,” he said. “You are doing a little investigation yourself into what a person is suspected of doing.”

He said the role of the magistrate is largely misunderstood.

“People don’t understand what we have to take into consideration to make the determination of how someone is released or not, whether a case has probable cause or not,” he said. “I tell some of my friends what I’ve done, and they don’t understand what I do and the decisions I have to make. I think people not having that knowledge puts them at a disadvantage.”

Magistrates are judges and are usually the first step of the judicial system. Their first duty is determining probable cause, in other words, whether an officer has the authority to make an arrest, conduct a search or to obtain a warrant for arrest.

“We then have to decide whether a law has been violated and if the suspect is the one who violated that law,” Coates said. “If we find probable cause and have enough to charge that individual with the crime, we issue arrest warrants.”

Once a suspect is arrested by law enforcement, the suspect is brought before the magistrate.

“We decide the conditions of release,” Coates said. “We determine whether a suspect is allowed to have bond depending on the severity of the crime, and if it is allowed, we have to make the determination of how much bond or whether a suspect is released (with a written promise to appear).”

The magistrates consider several factors when setting a suspect’s bond, including criminal history, likelihood of coming to court and an individual’s attitude and behavior.

“Bonds are not for punishment,” Coates said. “People have said, ‘He should have gotten a $1 million bond for that charge,’ but we use bond to assure appearance in court. You can’t say a bond doesn’t fit the crime because it is more reflective of the individual. That is what the bond is about.”

Yolanda Speller has been a magistrate in Nash County for 24 years and said the misconception of the job extends to their physical environment as well.

“I don’t think they realize when they walk into our office that they are walking into a courtroom,” she said. “We are judges, and we are actually holding court.”

She said she held a suspect in contempt of court last week after he cursed at officers and did not heed several warnings.

“We have a very serious job, and I don’t think people take it as serious when they come in,” she said. “They don’t realize the authority magistrates have.”

For example, in North Carolina, only ordained ministers or magistrates can perform marriages.

“I probably do 10 or 15 marriages a month, and that is probably a low average,” Nash County magistrate William Everett Jr. said. “Marriages are like bananas though, they come in bunches.”

Everett said another responsibility on magistrates’ shoulders is involuntary commitments or forcing someone to receive treatment for a mental illness.

“Most people are being treated in the community and oftentimes, they do not comply with their private providers in taking their medications, and they don’t get the substance abuse counseling they need,” he said. “They have a crisis, and oftentimes they need to be admitted to a hospital or a psychiatric facility.”

He said most requests for involuntary commitment orders come from family members, but even that is misunderstood.

“Whoever is petitioning has to show that the person is an immediate threat to themselves or others. For someone who is off medication, they can hear voices, see things, become incoherent and may be unavailable to take care of their normal daily activities,” he said. “We have people who come in to have someone committed for anger management problems. Unless they threaten themselves or someone, it is not grounds for commitment. Simply because a husband and wife or boyfriend and girlfriend can’t get along or conform to the other person is not grounds for commitment.”

Everett said a maximum 48-hour holding period in domestic violence situations often confuses people, too.

“That is one of the least understood things we do in the magistrate’s office,” he said. “When the magistrate sees the defendant for the first time, no bond is set. A district court judge will set the bond within 48 hours, and if they do not have a court date in that period, a magistrate will set the bond.”

He said the 48-hour time period confuses people because it doesn’t necessarily mean a defendant is held in custody without bond for a full 48 hours.

For example, if a defendant is arrested in the morning, it is possible to see a district court judge the same day and have bond set.

“That is one of the most misunderstood things, especially for the victims of domestic violence,” he said.

Coates said despite the misconceptions about magistrates, he said his job is a benefit to all involved.

“Other states, like New Jersey, suspects go from law enforcement straight to the district judges without the medium point of a magistrate,” he said. “We are one of the states that has magistrates, and I think it actually does help a lot.”