Judge Judy's Longtime Baliff Booted After 25 Years
Judge Judy has a new bailiff. After 25 years of having Petri Hawkins Byrd by her side, there's a new bailiff in town. TV Line reports that as Judge Judy takes her talents to IMDb TV with a new courtroom show, Judy Justice, Byrd is nowhere to be found. Judy Justice will air on weekdays beginning Monday, Nov. 1 on the streaming platform and features a new bailiff named Kevin Rasco.
A new trailer for the new court show shows Judge Judy as she introduces the new cast of legal assistants that will join her on the show, including Rasco. The trailer also shows Judge Judy with two additional newbies: court stenographer Whitney Kumar, and law clerk Sarah Rose.
The reason why Byrd did not make the cut for Judge Judy's new show is unknown at the time. But he told Chicago Sun-Times last year that he would be "honored" to join Judge Judy on her new show. His relationship with Judge Judy began way back in 1985. The two were working together in the New York City court system. After learning that Judge Judy was getting a TV show, he wrote her a congratulatory letter. He added a joke that he was available for work and the rest was history. Byrd stood by Judge Judy's side during 12,500 cases.
As for how Judge Judy feels about Byrd, she said in a statement per the report: "He is a consummate professional who knows how a courtroom should be run," she said. "Byrd has a great voice, is a terrific storyteller, and is generous with his time and talent to many worthy organizations."
Byrd was grateful for his time with Judge Judy, and looking forward to whatever was next for him, telling the Sun-Times, "I've gotten a chance to fulfill a lot of dreams that I probably wouldn't have gotten the chance to do if it hadn't been for Judge Judy Sheindlin taking very seriously a funny comment at the end of a letter," he said. "It just goes to show you that if you want to make God laugh, just tell him your plans. And then he'll go, 'You have no idea what you're about to embark on.' But I trust God and I trust the ride, and the process has been wonderful."