Updated

A judge in Oregon used a bench as a battering ram to break free from a locked courtroom, causing about $3,000 in damage, a report said.

Judge Susie Norby offered to pay for the damage out of her own pocket, but a Clackamas County spokesman said the funds will come from the county’s general fund, meaning taxpayers will foot the bill, the Oregonian reported.

Norby said her offer was turned down because county officials regarded the cost as negligible, the newspaper reported.

“I feel deeply sad to have caused harm to our beautiful and historic building,” Norby told the newspaper. “It is a building I cherish, respect and am proud and grateful to work in.”

Repair work in the Oregon City courtroom will include reinstalling marble on the framing above the courtroom doors, the report said.

“I feel deeply sad to have caused harm to our beautiful and historic building. It is a building I cherish, respect and am proud and grateful to work in.”

— Judge Susie Norby

Norby said she locked herself in the courtroom March 4, a Sunday, and tried to ram her way out because her keys and phone were elsewhere, and no one was expected at the building until the following day. She was stuck in the courtroom for more than an hour before a sheriff’s deputy came by and sprung her.

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