Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Government Center Security topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Judge Baca urges weapons screening at Government Center; county staff outline options and legal limits
Summary
Probate Judge Judith Baca asked commissioners to consider screening for weapons at the Government Center after multiple disruptive incidents; county attorney and staff outlined constitutional constraints, judge-based authority for chambers, options including temporary metal detectors, alternative screening technology, and hardening the dais.
Judge Judith Baca told the Dona Ana County Commission she is concerned for the safety of court staff and county employees after encounters with agitated, sometimes incoherent visitors in the Government Center and asked the county to consider screening to prevent deadly weapons from entering the building.
“As an officer of the court, I think that is something I can request,” Judge Baca said, asking that the front entrance and halls leading to her chambers be screened to prevent firearms and other deadly weapons from being brought into the area.
County Attorney Carrie Neal told commissioners constitutional and state law constraints limit the board’s authority to broadly ban firearms on county property. Neal said a 1986 constitutional amendment prohibits municipalities and counties from regulating the right to keep and bear arms and that courts and the attorney general’s office have interpreted related limits narrowly. However, Neal said officers of the court have authority to prohibit weapons “within their spaces and the hallways adjacent to their spaces,” which gives Judge Baca a basis to bar weapons from the hallways that connect to her First Floor chambers.
Staff proposed practicable measures: temporary metal detectors at the hallway doors leading to the judge’s chambers — similar to equipment used during a recent Project Jupiter public meeting — and additional staffing or security presence in the hallways. Commissioner Daniel Sanchez suggested exploring newer screening technology used by some venues that uses electromagnetic scanning and AI to highlight possible threats without the routine use of full metal wands or x-ray conveyors.
Commissioner Ronald Reynolds noted operational limits of the facility’s contractor security and pointed to the sheriff’s office as the primary law-enforcement responder with authority in the building. Reynolds said options include posting sheriff’s personnel at hallway entrances or installing metal detectors at the hallway that leads to the judge’s chambers, though he cautioned it could be cumbersome for frequent building users.
Facilities staff are already obtaining quotes to harden the commission dais with bullet-resistant protection, and interim county manager Scott Andrews said the county has access to metal detectors and could deploy them for upcoming meetings as an abundance-of-caution measure while staff develop policy. Andrews suggested using detectors for the next few meetings and revisiting a formal policy after those events.
What’s next: staff were asked to consult with the judge, county attorney, the sheriff’s office, and the county’s security contractor to develop a practicable plan — which could include temporary metal detectors or alternative screening technology — and to return with options and cost estimates for the board to consider.
