After 41 years of serving as the Seward Court Magistrate, Sheila Beins has finally retired to have more time to do things she’s always wanted to do.
Beins’ last day was on Dec. 15 as she officially handed the reins to Kimberly Haberman. Haberman has been training with Beins and took over the position on Dec. 18.
Beins started with the Seward Court in 1982 and was appointed to associate county judge in 1985. In 1999, the title changed to clerk magistrate.
“It was just a result of legislature,” Beins said. “It was still the same job.”
Since then, Beins said she worked with four different judges.
“It doesn’t seem like it’s been that long,” she said.
Beins also spent time on many committees including the clerk magistrate education committee, IT committee and was the president of the state magistrate board.
Beins said no day is the same as clerk magistrate as the court handles all sorts of different cases. She said her favorite part of the job is getting to work with attorneys and people. She said with the advancement of technology, the people aspect of the job is slowly happening less.
Beins said she decided to retire because she wanted to have more time to do other things including traveling, hobbies and spending time with family and friends.
“I’m ready for it,” Beins said. “I love the job and I’ll miss the people, but I’m excited to have more time to do whatever I want with it.”
