COLUMBIANA COUNTY Officials plan to boost security at courthouse

Visitors will go through a metal detector and, perhaps, empty their pockets.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- The privilege of strolling unchallenged into Columbiana County's quiet country courthouse will be ending soon as officials respond to a post-9/11 world by installing an entry-way guard post.
In about a month, courthouse visitors will be required to pass through a metal detector staffed by a guard.
Those setting off the device's alarm will be compelled to empty pockets and open purses to ensure no guns, knives or other banned items are present.
Aside from occasional outbursts by angry litigants outside the courthouse's second-floor courtroom, the building has been largely free of violence, Commissioner Jim Hoppel said Thursday.
Yet officials have been wary after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and in the face of urgings by state and federal authorities to be on guard.
Those issues prompted county officials to begin considering a first-floor security station, Hoppel explained.
Funds earmarked
This year's county budget earmarks about $50,000 to cover installing the guard station and staffing it with part-time personnel who probably will have a law enforcement background.
Unclear is whether the guards will be armed, how many guards will be hired and what they'll be paid, Hoppel said.
Earlier this week, county officials inspected the interior entrance of the 19th-century historic building to pin down the best spot for the guard post.
It's likely to be put just inside the massive arched doors near the treasurer's office.
The job of constructing a guard platform may be given to county career and technical center students, Hoppel said.
The county already has a metal detector. A video camera probably will be installed that's linked to a monitor on the courthouse's second-floor courtroom security station, which is staffed with a guard.
Decided against X-ray machine
County officials debated putting in an X-ray machine to scrutinize bags, purses, briefcases and other containers but decided against it, for now.
They were worried that X-raying items would cause bottlenecks, Hoppel said.
The county already has the X-ray machine, which was donated by an airline, and will install it if it's later deemed necessary, Hoppel said.
Another security strategy will entail locking a back door to the courthouse that's frequently used by the public, Hoppel said.
The door will be equipped with an electronic lock and a device that will permit county employees to enter by swiping a card through it.
The card-swiper also will record the time entries are made and whose card was used, Hoppel said.
leigh@vindy.com