Even though several options were presented to the Sweetwater County Commissioners on how to staff the Third District Court and new Justice Center, only one additional position was approved at the meeting.
After a lengthy discussion at the Commissioners recent meeting, the Commissioners voted unanimously to approve filling a vacant court security officer position at the pay grade level of 15.2.
During the discussion, Sheriff Mike Lowell told the Commissioners that under his duties as a sheriff he is statutorily obligated to have a presence in the courts, for the security of the judges and those coming to the courts.
Human Resources director Garry McLean said the statute information is not only found in the sheriff’s duties list, but under the Wyoming Court Security Act. The Wyoming Court Security Commission was established in 2008.
The WCS Commissions purpose according to the WCSA is to “Establish standards to protect life, property and the judicial process in the Wyoming court system.
In establishing the standards, the commission shall recommend proper levels of court security to each county with due consideration of each county’s size, use of court facilities and security risks.
Requirements concerning equipment, facilities and architecture for court security purposes; basic training requirements for peace officers authorized to act as court security officers; basic protocol and procedures for court security; and requirements for the establishment of local court security management committees.”
With this in mind, McLean presented the Commissioners with an outline of how court security at both the new Justice Center and Third District Court would look like.
Under the proposal, there would be one security officer at the entrance to each building. This person would be responsible for scanning items of those who want to enter the court as well as making sure the person entering the building goes through a body scanner.
Under the proposal, two security officers would be at each court, which would mean each judge would have a security officer in the court with them at all times. The third part of the proposal shows a need for one rover at each facility.
The rover job includes checking all door, windows, rooms and other areas to make sure they are secure. They would also serve as backup to the scanner or security officer if needed. This would make for a total of eight, or four, at each facility.
This was something all of the Commissioners wanted more time to think about.
At the end of the discussion on this topic, the Commissioners decided that they would consider the request for two additional security officer positions at one of their meetings in February. This would give them more time to review all of the options.
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