District Court commissioner retires after 15 OC summers

Picture a young woman distraught after learning that a report of her sexual escapades will be posted on the Internet, while minutes later her male partner in the illegal incident expressed excitement at the same news. Such is the stuff District Court Commissioner Joe Potter, has seen and heard for 15 summers in Ocean City.

“I really enjoyed it for many, many years,” Potter said. “The people I worked with down here are great.”

Potter, 75, was the sole district court commissioner working the 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift, five days a week, at the Public Safety Building from April through October. Another commissioner, usually reluctantly, worked the graveyard hours on his two days off.

Potter was responsible for seeing defendants from all over the county, as they were brought in by Ocean City police, Maryland State Police, the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office, police from Ocean Pines, Snow Hill and Pocomoke and the Natural Resources Police.

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