The wheels of justice run on coffee, tea, cocoa and ice water.

No one knows that better than Mary Ann Jurysta - Butler County Court of Common Pleas' chief tipstaff.

Tipstaff?

"We're servants of the court...glorified hosts or hostesses," explained Jurysta.

Yet Butler County President Judge Thomas Doerr said the role of a tipstaff in the courts is immeasurable.

"There's a lot of stuff that goes on," Doerr said. "They are on the front lines."

The job title "tipstaff" comes from the high courts of England and Ireland, where judges' assistants carry long wooden staffs when they escort judges between the courtroom and the chambers.

That's the staff.

Jurysta said the "tip" was often a feather attached to the club used to tickle the sleepy in court.

But here in Pennsylvania, a tipstaff is more likely to carry a hot carafe of coffee and a list of court hearings.

The plural of tipstaff is tipstaves, and Butler County has 10 of them, equally divided down the gender line.

Other counties have more, fewer or none.

Their job duties - and even their existence - are decided on a county-by-county basis, according to the Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts.

Some counties call them bailiffs, but usually that implies they are carrying guns, which Butler County tipstaves do not.

"That's not necessary here, because we have the deputy sheriffs doing security," said Court Administrator Candace Graff.

Butler County tipstaves' duties include prepping courtrooms with ice water for judges, attorneys and clients. Jurors get an array of beverage choices, including coffee, tea, soda, cocoa, tea and bottled water.

"We do spoil our people here," Jurysta said.

Additionally, tipstaves greet courtroom visitors and lead courthouse tours.

They attend to jurors on trial day, which can include checking them in, ordering them a pizza dinner and staying overnight with them when they are sequestered in hotels.

Tipstaves monitor courtrooms for problem people, ringing cell phones and occasional contraband soft drinks and chips.

"Jack-of-all-trades," the tipstaves can be called on to attend to an ill litigant or adjust the air conditioning, Doerr said.

Tipstaves alone can push a secret buzzer that sets off a light in the judges' chambers and allows the judges to make a timely grand court entrance.

Most noticeably, it is a tipstaff's job to make the announcement: "All rise. Court is now in session. The honorable judge so-and-so presiding."

Their primary responsibility is to make sure the people and paperwork of the courts is where it should be "so that court operates in a timely and organized manner," Doerr said.

"A lot of times they are dealing with people in a crisis situation," Doerr said. "It can be difficult."

As a tipstaff, Jurysta, 57, of Franklin Township has spent 13 years witnessing courtroom drama.

"When I was new here, I was naive to everything," she said.

Jurysta recalls custody battles that brought her to tears.

She's held her breath waiting for a jury's verdict.

And - although she was reluctant to admit it - she's been bored silly by longwinded legal debates.

"We deal with the good times, the bad times," she said.

All in all, she says her job is pretty great for a people person.

"I've met such wonderful people," she said.

The job is so alluring that people are often applying for it, Graff said.

There is very little turnover. And when there is an open job, a stack of applicants is already waiting.

This, Graff admits, happens every time, despite the downside to the job: All of the tipstaves are part-timers paid $65 a day with a limit of 1,000 hours a year.

Jurysta is the lone exception. She's a full-timer making $8.70 an hour.

The job comes with no benefits and can call for hours that stretch well into the night or early morning.

"There's no set limit as to when court is over," Jurysta said.

Although it is not a requirement of the job, all of the current tipstaves are retirees. They're former policemen, bankers, and school administrators.

"This job was created for a retired person who does not need benefits," Graff said.

In order to have a good tipstaff experience, Jurysta said you must enjoy the job itself.

"You have to be a people person," she said.