In the maze of hallways behind electronically locked doors at the 22nd Judicial District Court in Covington, a controlled madhouse of sorts unfolded Monday with clerks and aids zipping from room to room, filling their new bosses’ wishes as they ushered in the largest transition of new judges in recent memory.

Some clerks dodged overstuffed black garbage bags that stacked in one area of the hallway. Others hurried past opened and discarded boxes of office furniture as if to finish an urgent errand. At one point, three other clerks carried a long framed picture — an old New Orleans map — as they stopped to show newly elected Judge Rick Swartz what his new office decoration looked like.

“Nice,” he said nodding his head in approval. “I like it.” It was the first full day of work for many of the new judges as they settled into the district courthouse in Covington, their office for the next six years. A ceremonial swearing in will be held Friday at 2 p.m. at the Justice Center and earlier in the day in Franklinton at the Washington Parish Courthouse.

Swartz was elected without opposition to sit as judge in Division C, replaced retiring Judge Patricia Hedges. His office, like that of other five new judges elected Nov. 20, was sparse, sans his one evident passion: Louisiana State University football.

Although he grew up outside of Cleveland, Ohio, close to Ohio State University, which played LSU in the national championship game last year, his allegiance is obvious.

Besides about a dozens papers scattered on his sparsely decorated desk, the only flair his office boasts is a purple plaster LSU football helmet business card dispenser.

On the adjacent wall hangs a framed photograph of LSU players tackling an Oklahoma Sooner running back.

And in the corner was a signed NFL football from New Orleans Saints wide receiver Devery Henderson.

Presiding over his first docket cases Monday, he said he had no time for other office decorum. Flanked by four clerks, he then excused himself to take care of another business matter.

“Everybody is trying to take care of me, and believe me that’s a hard job in itself,” he said, garnering laughs.

Court administrator Adrienne Stroble is one of those caretakers.

For the past several weeks, she’s spearheaded an office makeover of sorts for the six new judges, including Dawn Amacker and Mary Clemence Devereux, elected to recently-approved judgeships dealing with family court and juvenile matters only in Division K and L, respectively.

Four other new judges, A.J. Hand, Allison Hopkins Penzato, Swartz and William “Will” Crain, will replace retiring judges.

Stroble, meanwhile, has spearheaded newly painted offices, carpet cleanings, e-mail and voice mail set ups, phone activation and the daunting task of moving furniture out and in and then rearranging again to the judges’ liking.

“We wanted to allow them to hit the ground running,” she said.

Many judges seemed to do just that. Amacker and Devereux held meetings together and with staff most of the day. When passed by their closed-door conference room, a loud clapping and jeers erupted. Amacker’s clerk said her boss is acclimating herself to the post.

Beside the clerk lay a checklist of things needed: a stapler, pens, pencils, paper, trash cans, new telephone and about 20 other items, some already scratched out as if they’d been retrieved.

Hand, who replaced retiring Judge Elaine Dimiceli in Division B, recently said he spent three weeks personally moving boxes into his new office. On Monday, he spent his day on the bench.

Crain, who won his Division G seat unopposed and replaces retired Judge Larry Green, told the same story as Swartz: he’s had no time for decorating.

On his floor, leaning against the wall, sit a few framed diplomas and accreditations.

On a table sits a golden duck. And to the right of his desk, on a coat hanger, hangs the coveted black robe, his new daily attire he earned after 24 years as a private trial attorney.

“Decorating is a work in progress,” he said. “I was going to take today to get it done, but as you can see that didn’t happen. I guess I need to get my wife in here.”

He then turned to the hanging robe and smiled. On Tuesday, he draped it over his suit and sat on the bench in Washington Parish for the first time since he began his career with Covington-based Jones Fussell law firm.

“I feel pretty calm right now,” he said on the eve of his first court appearance as a judge. “One reason is the staff. They’ve made it an easy task.”