Courtrooms are where justice is meted out. So, it’s appropriate that the Superior Courtroom in the Beaufort County Courthouse will be the site of an unveiling of five portraits that were restored 25 years after being damaged.

On Friday at 11 a.m., Superior Court Judge Wayland J. Sermons Jr. and Clerk of Court Marty Paramore host the unveiling. Restored portraits of William Blount Rodman II, George Hubbard Brown, Stephen Cambreteng Bragaw, James Edward Sheppard and Edward Warren will return to their prominent places in the courtroom.

Those men played prominent roles in the history of Beaufort County.

The portraits, which had been long-stored in a closet under the stairs in the courthouse lobby, were among janitorial supplies and showed their years of neglect.

In an effort to restore the portraits in a manner the county could afford, Paramore hired Washington artist Nancy Scoble to do the restoration work. Paramore deserves credit for taking action to restore the paintings.

However, not everyone appreciated Scoble’s efforts to restore the portraits. Several stories about the restoration project drew criticism from some members of the art-restoration community. They complained that Scoble was not qualified to perform the restoration work. Others offered support, pleased the county hired a local artist to perform the task.

“We haven’t had a single complaint, locally, from anyone who’s seen this work,” County Manager Paul Spruill said a little more than a year ago.

It was clear that some of those who leveled criticism at Scoble did so out of jealousy. To them, Scoble did not have the prerequisite credentials to perform such restoration work. They didn’t believe Scoble had the training or experience to take on such a task.

We will let Scoble’s work speak for itself.

We applaud Scoble for being willing to take on the project, at a cost much less than what a “professional” art restorer would charge.

A professional restorer provided an estimate to restore the portraits that ranged from $12,500 to $15,000, according to Paramore. Scoble’s estimate was $2,800. The Beaufort County Board of Commissioners approved spending no more than $3,000 to restore the portraits.

We are glad pieces of Beaufort County’s history have been restored at a reasonable cost ą and by a local artist.

That’s justice.