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Courthouse in Lisbon tightens security
Access cards to the courthouse will be restricted to workers whose time is spent primarily in the courthouse.
LISBON — Bert Dawson, the Columbiana County engineer now in his 11th term, said he won’t mind going through the front door of the courthouse.
County officials recently tightened access to the building under new regulations that were recently adopted by the Courthouse Security Committee and the county commissioners.
Under the committee’s old rules, county workers and officials entered the courthouse through the back door by using a swipe card.
The rear door is closer to the courthouse parking lot and gives workers easy access to many offices.
The public enters the building through the front doors, where there is an armed security guard and a metal-detection scanner.
But Eric Moore, courthouse chief of security, wanted to tighten access. The idea came from informal suggestions made by the security officials for the Ohio Supreme Court when the court visited Lisbon earlier this year. The state’s top court wouldn’t comment.
Workers and officials have swipe cards that give them access to the courthouse.
Some, such as Dawson, work in other buildings.
The new change is that only workers who work most of the time in the courthouse will get cards for the courthouse.
Dawson said, “It’s not a big thing,” and added, “walking from the parking lot to the front door is about 30 steps.”
Courthouse workers also are not allowed to let unauthorized people in through the back door.
Moore said the change was simply a sign of the times.
Commissioner President Penny Traina said people used to be able to pull into a parking garage at the state capitol and drop off election materials, park elsewhere and return to get the materials. Now, she added, no one is allowed to drop off anything, and visitors “have to park about 25 miles away.”
The changes locally will eliminate cards that have no personal names. Each card will have the worker’s name, which, when used, will be recorded in a computer.
Lisbon police, for example, have two cards to the courthouse in case of an emergency after hours. Their department is close to the courthouse, and Lisbon police would likely be the first to arrive. The cards now labeled “Lisbon Village” will be bear the name of police officials.
Judge C. Ashley Pike, administrative judge for the county’s common pleas court, said county officials on the security committee decided to make the change.
“I’m very proud of our security force,” Judge Pike said.
The judges pay for the courthouse security from their budget.
Originally, Moore said, the security force focused on the second floor of the courthouse, where the courts are located. Security eventually branched out to the rest of the courthouse.
Traina said the security upgrades in recent years include the addition of a defibrillator and emergency supplies in the courthouse and performance-safety and intruder drills.
wilkinson@vindy.com