Countywide : Marshal to Retire, Cites Stress of Job

The first Orange County marshal to serve both the Superior and Municipal courts announced his retirement Wednesday, saying he would leave July 1 to spend more time with his children and return to real estate.

James C. Byham, who rose through the ranks in a 25-year career with the marshal’s office, said he was leaving his “great job” because of the stress its long hours caused him.

“It’s a 60- or 70-hour-a-week job, and I want to leave before I wear out, burn out, tire out,” said Byham, 48, who has been the marshal for five years. “My predecessors both left with heart trouble, and I don’t want to go out that way.

“I want to leave while I’m healthy and enthusiastic and can enjoy life. I don’t want to make it too corny, but I’ve got two teen-agers out of four (children) left in the house, and I want to spend some time with them before they take off.”

Byham--who called his appointment to the $78,000-a-year post his life’s greatest achievement--presided over an office that doubled its jurisdiction and grew by hundreds of employees under his administration.

Deputy marshals serve as bailiffs, keeping order in the courtrooms, protecting judges and transporting hundreds of prisoners to and from the five county courthouses each day. The deputies also serve arrest warrants and enforce eviction orders and civil judgments.

Until 1983, deputy marshals served as bailiffs only in Municipal Court. That year, they replaced sheriff’s deputies as Superior Court bailiffs as part of a courthouse reorganization intended to lower costs.

While praising the “cost-conscious, conservative administration” of Byham’s office, a 1987 report by the County Administrative Office criticized some aspects of the marshal’s management, saying he becomes mired in small details.

“The marshal has been unable to fulfill the role of executive manager of his office because of his focus on administrative detail that more appropriately should be delegated to subordinate administrative staff,” the report said.

“He was a detailist,” said Superior Court Judge Leonard Goldstein, chairman of the Superior Court’s marshal’s personnel committee.

“The marshal has seen his department go from servicing about half the courts of the county to serving all the courts of the county, which is a remarkable metamorphosis. He has led it through difficult times quite admirably. We were fortunate to have someone like him.”

“He’s been very good to his employees, and we’re going to miss him,” said Deputy Marshal Renee Dupre, president of the Assn. of Deputy Marshals of Orange County. “He’s always given us the courtesy of hearing our views.”

Goldstein said a screening committee of judges will search for a new marshal. After finalists are chosen, all 101 Superior and Municipal Court judges will vote on the choice, he said.

Byham said of his plans to return to real estate: “If you have a little bit of capital and a little bit of time, (real estate investment) isn’t a bad way to go.”

Byham, a native of Pennsylvania, Byham came to the county in 1961 after his discharge from the Army and attended Santa Ana College, then called Rancho Santiago College. He joined the marshal’s office in 1963 and worked toward a bachelor’s degree at Cal State Fullerton.