Courthouse concern

It is illegal to carry a weapon into a Cape Girardeau County courthouse, but all that stops anyone from doing so is a simple sign.

"If somebody walks into the courtroom, he hasn't been searched for weapons," Associate Circuit Judge Peter Statler said. "He can walk right in and start shooting."

Statler works at the Cape Girardeau County Common Pleas Courthouse on Lorimier Street in Cape Girardeau. The 150-year-old building is open to the public during weekday working hours and has three entrances.

Inside, adult abuse cases and civil lawsuits are heard, and ex parte orders of protection are filed. Outside, a sign hangs on a door warning "Firearms are prohibited in this facility."

With the exception of a bailiff present in the courtroom when court is in session, the courthouse has no other security precautions.

While no major incidents have occurred at the Common Pleas Courthouse or the courthouse in Jackson, where most felony and misdemeanor cases are heard, the potential is there, according to some officials.

"We're just kind of sitting ducks down here," said Patty Wibbenmeyer, chief deputy clerk, who works at the Common Pleas Courthouse.

The security or the lack thereof at both county courthouses offers a sharp contrast to the Federal Building, at 339 Broadway in Cape Girardeau. There, guests walk through a metal detector and their packages are X-rayed.

The Federal Building in Cape Girardeau uses security officers and metal detectors to check everyone entering the building.

Court security is a matter of greater importance in today's social environment, Statler said. He referred to the February 2005 slaying of a U.S. District judge's husband and mother in Chicago and the courtroom shooting death of a Georgia county judge less than two weeks later.

For at least the last 15 years, bailiffs at the county courthouses have had access to metal-detecting wands that can be used at any time, Cape Girardeau Sheriff's Department Capt. James Mulcahy said. "They could be used daily," he said.

Mulcahy said the wands have been used more in recent years than before, and are used "when they are needed." For security reasons, he would not go into detail on how often the wands or used or what prompts their usage. Regular court observers could note their usage is rare.

"You never know whether these people are armed," Circuit Clerk Charles Hutson said. Hutson's worries are not without cause. A few years ago a knife was found in the women's bathroom at the Common Pleas Courthouse, and Hutson said members of his staff have been threatened on numerous occasions.

"They can't get the judges, so we catch it," Wibbenmeyer said.

In her 25 years working in the court building, Wibbenmeyer said she has been threatened more times than she can remember. Many people who threaten her are angry at a judge's orders or are seeking legal advice, which Wibbenmeyer and the rest of her staff are barred from providing. So the litigants become angry.

Hutson said his staff is worried and feels scared at times in the courthouses, which upsets Statler.

"Folks who work for the county and the state ought to feel secured and not be frightened to go to work," the judge said.

Hutson has requested stronger security measures for the buildings, but he said county finances won't allow them to be taken.

"We're doing everything we can with the money we have to make sure our court system is secure," Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones said. Jones admitted more could be done to protect the courthouses, such as adding full-time security or metal detectors, but said the county cannot afford to do either right now.

Every courtroom has one bailiff, who does a perimeter sweep of the room before opening to the public, Mulcahy said. On a busy day, there could be as many as three bailiffs in one of the courtrooms at the Jackson courthouse. Jail officers normally transport prisoners to and from their hearings.

At the Jackson courthouse, incarcerated defendants are chained while in court. Their hands are cuffed and ankles are shackled. A chain runs between the two. The inmates have enough slack to walk and sign paperwork.

This security measure is less than 2 years old, where before inmates were only shackled at their ankles during court.

Use of technology has also made the courthouse safer, Mulcahy said, noting sometimes incarcerated defendats who appear in court via close-circuit television for arriagnments, which cuts down on trips prisoners take to the courthouse.

A possible solution to concerns about security would be a move into the Federal Building on Broadway. Some county court officials hope that when the federal government moves into courthouse under construction on Independence Street, the county will be able to move into the vacated building.

The Federal Building on Broadway offers more space and only one public entrance compared to the multiple ones at the current county courthouses.

A move into the Federal Building would also elevate the courtrooms to the more secure second floor, something Statler would like to see. Currently, both his courtroom and office are on ground level and have windows.

Jones said moving into the Federal Building is a possibility, but that any such move would be a "long way off."

Some relief may come from Tuesday's election. A half-cent county sales tax passed, which means two more bailiffs for the court system, Jones said. Full-time security or metal detectors would not be part of the plan, though, something Wibbenmeyer wishes to see.

"We're already past it being a necessity," she said of tighter security measures. "It was a necessity 10 years ago."

Both Hutson and Wibbenmeyer said even simple, inexpensive changes to the security could be beneficial, such as locking all but one entrance into the court buildings.

Mulcahy speculated that in the future all courthouses will be more secure, but Wibbenmeyer hoped that will not be too late.

"I'd hate to wait for something bad to happen," she said.

kmorrison@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127