MuskogeePhoenix.com, Muskogee, OK

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July 28, 2012

Courthouse security tightens

Budget constraints delayed measures, sheriff says

By D.E. Smoot Staff photo by Mike Carrels

Muskogee County law enforcers are gearing up to impose tighter security measures at the courthouse.

Those measures will include limiting public access to the exterior door in the parking garage. Once inside, visitors will be met by guards, a metal detector and an X-ray machine.

Muskogee County Sheriff Charles Pearson said tighter security has been a concern for some time. However, budget constraints delayed the new procedures. They are scheduled to go into effect Aug. 1.

Pearson said he had spent about $45,000 on the equipment, which includes surveillance cameras. Manning the security post is expected to cost an estimated $110,000 a year.

“We’ve got a lot of great people who work in the courthouse, and we’ve got to make sure they are protected,” Pearson said. “We just want to know who’s coming in and out of there.”

Muskogee County Undersheriff Terry Freeman said identification cards would be issued to county employees to facilitate their access. Details regarding easier access by lawyers who regularly conduct courthouse business are being worked out.

“You’re not going to have total convenience and total security,” Freeman said.

In addition to tighter security at the courthouse entrance, Pearson said extra steps are being taken to secure courtrooms.

“Those courtrooms are wide open,” he said. “What we have found over the years is people will come in there, and they will stick contraband up under the bench or in the bathrooms. This should help stop that.”

Steps to increase security at the Muskogee County Courthouse began about five years ago after two disconcerting incidents. In March 2007, a man believed to have been wielding a sawed-off shotgun started a ruckus in the district attorney’s office. A month later, a juvenile threatened to shoot an assistant prosecutor.

Shortly after those incidents, a bulletproof partition was built at the entrance of the district attorney’s office, and a video-surveillance system and card-entry system was installed.

Reach D.E. Smoot at (918) 684-2901 or dsmoot

@muskogeephoenix.com.

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