Expect a new step toward courthouse security next time you visit. A deputy is now stationed at the entrances on the first floor and will run an electronic wand over visitors to detect weapons and other metal.
Sheriff Travis Daugherty has long advocated for a single entrance to the facility so that security could be tightened, and all visitors pass through a metal detector similar to security screenings at an airport. However, in the meanwhile, since that is an expensive and disruptive undertaking, the wand is checking for safety concerns.
Daugherty said that farmers and others with a pair of pliers or the like in their plier pockets or pants pockets won’t have to leave the building, return to their vehicles and place the offending item there before being allowed in to pay taxes or
WANDPage A3 conduct other business, but anyone with a significant weapon will have to leave it in the vehicle or at home to gain entrance.
Daugherty said it is a first step in keeping courthouse employees and the public safe.