Jefferson County to Install Metal-Detector Screening at Courthouse Entrance

Jefferson County commissioners said the county will install a security checkpoint with a metal detector at the courthouse front entrance and lock other courthouse doors, a measure judges have encouraged to improve court security.

An unnamed commissioner told the board: "we will have a security checkpoint with a metal detector going into the front doors of the courthouse," and said the county expects to put the checkpoint in place around the first of the year and coordinate the transition with the sheriff’s office.

County staff said employees will be able to use card access for other courthouse doors. "Employees can card in through the, those access control doors," Rebecca, a county staff member, told the board, adding that employees must submit a card request through the sheriff’s office and that "Captain Wolf can get a key card appropriately programmed for you." Staff also said the annex (a separate building used for 4‑H and probation) will not be placed under the same security screening because of its public-facing functions.

County staff said they will run a public-information push and hold transition meetings with the sheriff’s office to explain how the checkpoint and access cards will work. They also noted that employees who leave the building and return will need to pass through the screening again, a procedural detail intended to preserve the security benefit.

Implementation is to be coordinated with the sheriff’s office; no formal vote with a recorded roll call accompanies this administrative rollout in the transcript. The county said more detailed written guidance and meetings for departments will follow before the checkpoint becomes operational.