As if planning an October wedding and caring for an 8-month-old daughter weren't enough to do, Paula Bullert thought she should launch a new career.

Bullert, 27, is the newest security officer at the Burleigh County Courthouse, joining several other smiling officials that greet people at the building's main entrance metal detector.

Bullert said her sister is a detention officer at the Burleigh County Detention Center and her father worked at the Youth Correctional Center for years. The idea of going into the same field as them was "something I always wanted to do," she said.

Before taking her first step in the law enforcement field, Bullert had worked as a hairstylist, a certified nursing assistant and a certified medical assistant.

Adesire to help other people led Bullert to her new job, which she started on June 1.

"Just helping people is the basic thing to me,"she said.

A security officer's job includes working door security, transporting inmates to court hearings and attending court hearings to record what happens, Bullert said.

In order to take the post, Bullert, a 1997 Mandan High School graduate, said she needed the equivalent of a GED and had to take a general-knowledge test. She also had to pass a physical, psychological tests and a background check.

The blonde-haired officer said she hasn't been left alone yet as she learns the ins and outs of courthouse routine.

"There's always somebody there to fall back on," she said.

In about a month and a half, Bullert said she will begin training to be an officer at the Burleigh County Detention Center. She hopes she can work with inmates "so they don't come back here."

To become a detention officer, she said she'll have to do four or five weeks of classroom training, where she'll learn about booking, self-defense and CPR, among other things.

Eventually, Bullert thinks she may be interested in becoming a law enforcement officer.

But for now, Bullert and her fiance, Chad Satnen, are busy planning their Oct. 21 wedding and caring for their 8-month-old daughter.

"We definitely have our hands full," she said.

(Reach reporter Jenny Michael at 250-8225 or jenny.michael@;bismarcktribune.com.)