PORT ANGELES – It may be the badge and gun, but Gary Gorss has a calming effect on Clallam County courtrooms, often diffusing disruptions simply by standing there.
At 6 feet 5 inches, 280 pounds, Corrections Officer Gorss is a mountain of a man – football player big, old growth big – the son of a legendary Hollywood stuntman who skippered fishing boats first full-time and then in his spare time for 27 years.
During the day Gorss can be seen in the county’s five courtrooms and the other departments in the courthouse.
He’s the only correctional officer, and he’s hard to miss, given his stature.
“It has a calming effect sometimes,” said Gorse, 50.
“You think?”
Gorss is the face of a new push to secure the Clallam County Courthouse.
He’s been keeping the peace since April – starting outside Robert Covarrubias’ murder trial with a metal-detecting wand.
He’s also writing a courtroom security policy manual and helped write a grant proposal to buy a metal detector.
He’s the only one who applied for the $43,740-a-year job, a job he wanted because he had done just about everything else in his 21 years as a county corrections officer.
“I thought it would be interesting,” he said.
