Last November, then-federal prosecutor Benecia Betton Moore gave up her briefcase in favor of a jurist’s robe and gavel as she became Arkansas’ newest federal magistrate judge and on Friday, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas made it official with a formal investiture ceremony.

Moore, 45, was selected for the magistrate judge position with the help of a merit selection panel made up of lawyers and members of the public and initially took her place on the court Nov. 2 upon the retirement of U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Thomas Ray.

Surrounded by family and friends, co-workers, attorneys and judges, Moore was sworn in Friday by Judge Lavenski Smith, chief judge of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis. Earlier in her career, Moore clerked for Smith at the 8th Circuit as well as for U.S. District Judge Petrese B. Tucker in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

The event was presided over by Chief U.S. District Judge Kristine G. Baker, who sat at the head of the courtroom with Appeals Court Judges Smith and Morris Arnold of the 8th Circuit; District Judges Susan Webber Wright, Billy Roy Wilson, Brian Miller and D. Price Marshall Jr. of the Eastern District of Arkansas;

Bankruptcy Judges Phyllis M. Jones, Richard D. Taylor and Bianca M. Rucker; Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Jerome Kearney and U.S. Magistrate Judges Ray, Joe Volpe, Mark Ford, Tricia Harris, Christy Comstock and Edie Ervin.

Moore’s father, Dr. Harold Betton, gave the invocation and her children, Micah, Matthew and Mila, led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristin Bryant, who chaired the 15-member Investiture Committee and is a longtime friend and co-worker of Moore’s, could barely contain her excitement as she welcomed the capacity crowd that filled the G. Thomas Eisele Courtroom at the Richard Sheppard Arnold U.S. District Courthouse in Little Rock.

“I really feel like it’s Christmas morning and it’s not even my investiture,” Bryant said as laughter broke out in the courtroom for the first of several times during the proceedings. “Looking out at this massive crowd it’s amazing to recognize that we are all here from various backgrounds and walks of life to honor and celebrate our dear friend and colleague.”

Bryant said she and Moore had worked a number of cases during their 12 years working together at the U.S. attorney’s office and that the two became close friends.

“Everyone here knows you spend so much time at work that the people there become your family,” Bryant said. “Benecia quickly became the sister I never had. Every morning I would trot down to her office and we would recount the previous night’s basketball, soccer, tennis, whatever sporting event there was, or the latest celebrity gossip or latest national headlines. It’s a morning ritual I miss to this day.”

Joseph Falasco, who worked with Moore early in her career at the law firm of Quattlebaum, Grooms & Tull PLLC, praised her work ethic and her humanity, saying that as a federal magistrate judge, Moore “will stand as a bridge between the law and the community, ensuring that the principles of equity and righteousness are upheld in every decision she makes.”

Moore’s former boss, U.S. Attorney Jonathan Ross, outlined Moore’s career with his office that began in April 2011 with a large investigation into corruption in the Arkansas Delta that was dubbed “Delta Blues” and resulted in about 70 indictments, to her time as the coordinator for Project Safe Neighborhoods that concentrated on getting violent armed felons off the streets, to her stint as assistant criminal chief.

“She was willing to take on any case big or small,” Ross said. “Her laugh is musical, it rings down the hall like jubilee church bells.”

Ross said although Moore was missed by her former colleagues, “if there is any place we can lose you to and consider it a win, this is it.”

After Smith administered the oath of office, with Moore’s left hand resting on a Bible held by her mother, Angela Betton, with her father and her husband, Antonio Moore, standing next to her, Moore’s brother, Alex Betton, helped her into the black judge’s robe he held at the ready.

Calling the ceremony “so overwhelming,” Moore thanked everyone then deadpanned, “I got to pick who was going to speak for me so I made sure this wasn’t going to be a roast.”

Moore gestured toward the judges seated at the front of the courtroom and said as honored as she was to be selected to fill the seat vacated by Ray, “the one downside of being a magistrate judge is I won’t get to appear in front of them any more.”

Then, cracking a mischievous grin, she added, “Maybe that’s the upside for them.”