Article Image Alt Text

Courthouse security: Who's responsible, who pays?

In the wake of the shooting of Rep. Steve Scalise in Alexandria, Virginia Tuesday, parish council members are more concerned about security than ever.
St. Mary Parish Councilman Craig Mathews said it’s time to take the matter seriously, and that any member of the council could be the target of an active shooter.
St. Mary Office of Emergency Preparedness Director Duval Arthur noted that there was, in fact, an officer present at the council meeting.
“This is something that’s been discussed and beat up for a long, long time,” Arthur said. “We’ve met with all the judges, the district attorney, the sheriff, on things that could be done to the building to make it safer. Obviously the first place is the ideal place to have the security. The building only has one door coming and going out, so it would be easy to control ingress and egress. However, we didn’t get any cooperation at the time from the sheriff to provide law enforcement on the first floor. They do provide armed law enforcement on the sixth floor (where the court system is located.) They do have an alarm system (on the sixth floor)…we may put an alarm system in here for nights when we don’t have any law enforcement. We have panic buttons, all the judges, secretaries, court reporters and the clerks of court all have panic buttons.”
Arthur said there are 19 cameras throughout the courthouse, and an electrical device was installed at the front door for a system, not yet instituted, to verify employees by fingerprints.
“The sheriff was against us,” he said. “That was (former sheriff) David Naquin. I would ask (current Sheriff Mark Hebert) to come to the meeting and ask him.”
He said “every so often we have people who come here in these meetings…ya’ll have been lucky, I tell you…I do have a gun and I do have a badge.”
“How many rounds to you have?” Mathews asked.
“I have extra bullets in my pocket,” Arthur said.
“Those rounds were no match for what happened (in Alexandria, Virginia),” Mathews said. “In most of the past violence against government officials…maybe someone didn’t like a decision that was made, and it wasn’t something that was from something that erupted in that particular proceeding. These people were at a baseball field, and it was obviously someone who had an ax to grind from following the news or following the proceedings of those meetings. We don’t know when an act of violence will break out. It may be something from years ago.”
Council Chairman Paul Naquin said he has spoken to Hebert, and he agreed to send an armed officer to all council meetings.
Councilman Kevin Voisin said the entire courthouse needs to be secure. “I’m worried about all employees,” he said.
“We can restrict the use of the elevators in the basement,” Arthur said. “All the doors are locked downstairs, and we have cameras on all the doors downstairs. We can watch those areas to make sure people don’t sneak in.”
Legal counsel Eric Duplantis said the responsibility of the courthouse belongs to the parish, not to the sheriff. He said the parish cannot force other agencies inside the courthouse to contribute to the cost of security, but can enter into a voluntary agreement. In some courthouses, he said, governments have a mix of deputies and private security companies providing protection.
Councilman Dale Rogers asked if the council has the right to move the detectors from the sixth floor to the front entrance.
LaGrange said that device is paid for by the criminal court fund administered by the district attorney and the judges. “If we want to lock down the courthouse, that’s on the parish,” he said.
Duplantis said law dictates parish government “must provide safety” but just as the parish is responsible for road upkeep, “You can’t keep the road perfect.”
“I don’t want you to make excuses for the parish,” Mathews said.
“We do have security, it could always be better,” Duplantis said.
“Minimal,” Mathews replied. “We’re not doing our jobs by not providing adequate security in this building.”
Naquin said employees complained in the past that fingerprint scanners would cause delays getting to work.
“Who makes the decision?” Mathews asked. “If we do it, do they have a choice?”
“No, they don’t,” Naquin said.
“It’s only going to take one time for something to happen, I’d rather be proactive than reactive,” Councilman J Ina said. “I really do hope we can get something together.”
The Banner-Tribune contacted former Sheriff David Naquin regarding Duval’s statement.
“We got into who’s going to fund security,” Naquin said this morning. “And that’s where it died. We did develop an entire courthouse security plan. My recollection is that the ball was left in the court of the parish council to figure out how to fund that (deputy) position. It wasn’t that I didn’t want it, it was simply who would pay for it.”

ST. MARY NOW

Franklin Banner-Tribune
P.O. Box 566, Franklin, LA 70538
Phone: 337-828-3706
Fax: 337-828-2874

Morgan City Review
1014 Front Street, Morgan City, LA 70380
Phone: 985-384-8370
Fax: 985-384-4255