Changes in the Magistrate Courtroom in the Allen County Courthouse will soon become more secure.
District Court Judge Daniel Creitz and Court Clerk Dina Morrison informed Allen County commissioners Tuesday about a plan to install a new railing in the courtroom.
The railing would serve as a means of crowd control, particularly on Wednesday mornings, when as many as 100 cases are being handled.
“It’s a huge security risk,” Morrison told the Register.
The railing would block instant access to the counsel’s tables, Morrison said, while potentially adding more seating.
To accommodate the railing, book shelves that hold dozens of law books will be removed from the courtroom.
The plan is to sell the shelves to mitigate the cost of the railing.
The Kansas Bar Association was expected to decide this week whether the books should be kept, donated to the Allen County Historical Society or otherwise destroyed.
Much of the information in the books is available online, with most books untouched for years.
COMMISSIONERS accepted bid proposals to purchase two new patrol units for the Allen County Sheriff’s Department, but deferred final acceptance until the end of the month.
The department will purchase a pair of Ford F-150 Supercab 4×4 pickups for $23,950 apiece from Twin Motors Ford.
The Twin bid was slightly higher than one from GSA AutoChoice, a nationwide dealer of government vehicles.
Commissioners opted for the Twin bid, noting that it was within guidelines that allowed them to pick a local vendor instead of a national one.
The purchases will be deferred until the end of the month, commissioners said, to ensure the county’s budget has enough cash on hand for the purchases. Williams told commissioners his budget should have about $72,000 in unencumbered cash at the end of the year.
