Before she scored a new job Pagan Hockley had never stepped foot in a courthouse but now she's set to spend a large chunk of her time in one.
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The 25-year-old former Dubbo Showgirl is the new sheriff in town and the role is very different to her previous occupation.
"I moved to Dubbo six years ago. I was a Hungry Jack's manager and then worked in a pharmacy," she said.
"I wanted to get a career I could push myself through but also give back to my community.
"I felt I could really help people."
As a young girl who grew up in Eumungerie and went to school in Gilgandra, Ms Hockley never imagined she would end up a sheriff.
"When I was young I didn't really know sheriffs existed," she told the Daily Liberal.
"Woody [from the Toy Story movies] would have been the only sheriff I knew of.
"A few years ago I had a housemate who became a sheriff and that's how I knew more about the role."
Ms Hockley said she first applied to become a sheriff in March.
In April she was asked to do an online test and in May she attended an interview in Sydney.
"I undertook the medical part way through June and had to wait on the results to see if I was suitable for a job offer," Ms Hockley said.
"I got the call on my birthday to say I'd got this job.
"It was one of the best birthday presents I could have asked for."
In August Ms Hockley was flown to Sydney to take part in an intensive training program.
"I spent five weeks straight down in Sydney, which for a country girl like me was pretty tough," she admitted.
The training helped Ms Hockley develop her understanding of all the legislation and powers sheriffs must be aware of.
She said special tactical and on-the-job training were her favourite parts of the pre-employment process.
"Ninety per cent of our job is being able to communicate with people and talk them down but if we do have to get hands-on we're trained to know exactly what we need to do and how to do it.
"This minimises the risk of us getting hurt as well as the person we may be restraining."
Monday was Ms Hockley's first official day on the job at the Dubbo Courthouse.
"I wasn't expecting to be out in the field on my second day in the job so its been really good," she said.
"Everyone is really accepting and they really want everyone to succeed... no one gets annoyed, everyone just wants to help you learn and they want to teach you things
"It's a lovely work environment to come in to."
Record set
Sheriff of NSW Tracey Hall said Ms Hockley was one of 900 people who applied to become a sheriff in the latest recruitment round.
"It was a record for us...there were only 18 positions available so it was a hotly contested recruitment process," she said.
"It is a very diverse role, you can be doing court security one day and the next day you could be out travelling around...
"We serve documents for state and civil debts, and we serve warrants, summonses, property seizure orders and all other orders issued by the courts and tribunals.
"We administer the jury management system and the officers at the local locations are responsible for checking in the jurors for their jury service.
"They assist in empanelling the jury for the trials and also look after the jurors throughout the trial along with court officers.
Ms Hall said more than 33 per cent of sheriff's officers are now woman and the number is increasing.
"This is a good thing," she said.