Tipstaff

Tipstaff, ^* An officer appointed by the marshal of the court of king's bench, to attend upon the judges with a kind of a rod or staff tipped with silver.

2. In the United States, the courts sometimes appoint an officer who is known by this name, whose duty it is to wait on the court and serve its process.

^* From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, 1856 Edition. Please see Bouvier's Legal Abbreviations & Abbreviated References for help with obscure nomenclature & references.