Courtroom dedicated to Dick Reed

The courtroom in the Jefferson County Courthouse has been dedicated to Dick Reed in honor of the contribution he made to its renovation.

A group of about 45 friends and family members surprised Reed in the courtroom Wednesday afternoon. His son Chris presented him with a plaque that reads: 'Jefferson County Courtroom dedicated to Richard C. Reed … His vision and passion brought together the heritage of Jefferson County's past, present, and future and provided an enduring legacy for generations to come … February 2019.” Reed will keep that plaque, and an identical plaque has been hung outside the courtroom doors.

Reed was overcome with emotion as he thanked his son and those in attendance for the thoughtful gesture, which his family was able to keep secret for weeks. Fairfield Fire Chief Scott Vaughan was there, and he told Reed not to worry about getting choked up.

'Crying means you care,” Vaughan said.

'We all know that,” Reed said, 'but none of us want to live that.”

Renovations

Members of the audience shared their appreciation for Dick and the work he did during his 16-year career as a Jefferson County Supervisor. Two judges from the Eighth Judicial District attended the ceremony and thanked Reed for spearheading repairs of the courtroom, which involved completely gutting it, redoing all the leaded glass windows and removing the two drop ceilings so the windows could be seen from the inside.

The courtroom's floorplan was reconfigured so that the judge sits on the north side of the room to put them closer to the judge's chambers. The courtroom received new drywall, paint and stenciling that matches what was in the original courtroom.

Judge Myron Gookin told the crowd that the Jefferson County Courthouse's courtroom is the 'envy of most counties.”

'We have a historic, gorgeous courthouse. It took a team, and you were the leader of the team,” Gookin told Reed. 'You made it happen. Thank you very much.”

Judge Mary Ann Brown thanked Reed for his attention to courtroom safety in particular. Each door has a magnetic lock on it, and only those carrying a keycard can unlock them. Plus, they can all be locked from a central location in the event of an emergency. Moving the judge's bench was also a security upgrade because the judge can no longer be seen from the hallway outside the courtroom.

Brown told Reed, 'In other courtrooms, we're sitting ducks. Thank you for making us safe.”

Setting up the surprise

Dick's son Chris said he began thinking about a way to publicly honor his father after Dick lost his re-election bid to the board of supervisors in November. Chris wanted to hang a plaque outside one of the rooms that was remodeled during Reed's tenure as supervisor.

'If it wasn't for [Dick], this remodeling would not have gotten done,” Chris said.

Chris spoke to Reed's fellow supervisors Lee Dimmitt and Dee Sandquist, who met with Assistant County Attorney Pat McAvan about dedicating the courthouse to Reed.

'A lot of times, courthouses are dedicated to judges or someone in the legal profession,” Chris said. '[Dimmitt and Sandquist] met with Judge Gookin and Judge Brown, and they said, ‘We are behind this 100 percent. Let's dedicate this to Dick.'”

Chris informed all the family members so they could attend the dedication. Reed's niece Brittany Winslow put the announcement on social media, but didn't worry her uncle would see it because he's not interested in such things.

The family needed an excuse to get Reed to the courthouse on the appropriate day without him knowing the real reason. Luckily, Reed had to do business at the auditor's office, so he was planning to go to the courthouse anyway. Chris's son Conner told his grandpa that he needed to interview a local politician for a school project, and he wanted to interview Dick.

Reed thought that was a bit odd since Chris was also an elected official, having served on the Burlington City Council, but nevertheless the family was able to make Reed believe this was a genuine assignment. Conner did indeed interview Reed about his time as a supervisor, then told him he wanted to tour the courthouse.

Revelation

Dick, Chris and Conner walked up the steps to the courthouse. Chris told Reed to go inside, but Reed refused because he saw the courtroom was full of people, and assumed court was in session. Chris insisted he enter, and when he did he saw his brother Larry, from Dixon, Illinois, sitting in the audience. As Reed looked around and saw more friends and family members, he quickly realized that, whatever brought these people together, it had to do with him.

Reed said he thoroughly appreciated the plaque and surprise ceremony.

'I've always been a believer that whatever you do in life, you don't do it for yourself,” Reed said. 'What you give to others will come back to you.”