Does your courthouse screen you before you can enter

[uncle Will in In.]

Our county courthouse has one entry open and you pass through a metal detecter coming in. If it rings, a deputy has you put your pocket junk in a diwshpan, and has you go through again. If it rings again, he takes a hand held detecter, and trys to find the metal, My belt buckle rings it. If you have a dangerous weapen in your pocket such as a little pocket knife, you have to leave it there until you leave.
Is this going on anywhere else??

[WhiteWillow]

Yes. My local courthouse has screened people for about as long as I can remember. Exactly the same process as what you described.

[Common Tator]

Ours do this. And not just for weapons. I carry a camera in my purse. Last time I did jury duty, they saw the camera when they x-rayed my purse. They gave me a choice of either tossing the camera in the trash, or putting it in my car. I chose to walk back to the car and put it there. Then they let me in, with my cell phone, that has a camera built in.

[DamnearaFarm]

County doesn't here, but federal does. Nobody in the entry either, just a few display cases

[edcopp]

Not yet in Vinton County, Ohio. This is done in some other nearby counties.

[Windy in Kansas]

So far not where I live. There are panic buttons at the work stations throughout the building which are connected to the adjoining law enforcement center.

For the court rooms I believe a deputy is always present and probably questions as people enter. None present during jury selection, just for court.

The local Social Security office has an officer stationed at the entry and a door has to be unlocked for you to go to the office workers stations.

[Raeven]

I worked in courtrooms for many years in a sleepy little backwater county in California. For most of those years, we didn't have screening. Not many incidents of violence involving weapons occurred, but they did happen. It's terrifying and dangerous to both court personnel and the public when it does. I was very relieved when courtroom security was finally put in place.

In a neighboring county somewhat larger than ours, they couldn't afford to put in manned metal detectors, so they just put in the metal detectors and didn't worry about manning them. The first week they were installed, over 80 firearms were found in the bushes surrounding their courthouse.

It's good to remember that the courts deal with our most core issues: Spouses, children, homes, money and personal freedom. It's not difficult to understand why some people will see violence as a means to an end. I'm glad the courtrooms are screened.

And yes, they are screened where I live now, in Oregon.

[ccfromnc]

Metal detectors in our county courthouse here in central NC. Also no cellphones allowed in the building.

[TheMartianChick]

Ours have been screened for at least 15 years. In 1987, a criminal grabbed a deputy's gun in a neighboring municipality and killed him. Of course screening wouldn't have prevented that from happening, but they did make efforts to make the local courthouses a bit safer through the use of metal detectors.

[whiterock]

Yes, been that way for at least 6 years that i know of. Found out when I went in for divorce.
Ed

[Home Harvest]

Yes, in Bloomsburg PA it is similar to your description. Metal detector, no xray machine. Bags, purses, & backpacks are searched by hand. One minor difference, we empty our pockets before going through the metal detector.

I work in retail, and carry a folding box cutter. They hold my box cutter until I leave, then I get it back.

[Bearfootfarm]

Last time I went, you weren't screened to get in the "Courthouse" but you WERE screened before entering a Court ROOM

[mommymushbrain]

Ours used to just have the metal detectors at the doors of the courtroom on the 2nd story until September 2011 when we had a courthouse shooting... now it's moved to the front door, which is now the only door you can go in and out of.

[TnAndy]

Originally Posted by Raeven

Not many incidents of violence involving weapons occurred, but they did happen. It's terrifying and dangerous to both court personnel and the public when it does. I was very relieved when courtroom security was finally put in place.

Like most security, it's mostly a 'feel good' attempt. IF I'm coming to shoot someone, the deputy at the screen is simply gonna be the first one.

[zookeeper16]

I live in a quad county area....two of them are very large and populated and those courthouses do exactly this and have been for 10+ years. The other two counties are more rural and less populated. You can just walk into those.

[wwubben]

Concealed firearms are allowed in our courthouse as long as you have the permit.The courtroom however is screened by a deputy and no firearms allowed.

[beowoulf90]

Originally Posted by uncle Will in In.

Our county courthouse has one entry open and you pass through a metal detecter coming in. If it rings, a deputy has you put your pocket junk in a diwshpan, and has you go through again. If it rings again, he takes a hand held detecter, and trys to find the metal, My belt buckle rings it. If you have a dangerous weapen in your pocket such as a little pocket knife, you have to leave it there until you leave.
Is this going on anywhere else??

Been like that for years here! You can't enter the Court House, or the building that houses Domestic Relations etc.. with out going through a scanner..

Even when I was working for York, PA and had a badge I had to go through the detectors and give up my pocket knife and nail clippers.. Even though I was delivering drawings for the DA to use in court, or the fact that I'm the one that mapped their storm water system and helped finish mapping their sanitary water system..

[Raeven]

Originally Posted by TnAndy

Like most security, it's mostly a 'feel good' attempt. IF I'm coming to shoot someone, the deputy at the screen is simply gonna be the first one.

Think there's just one deputy, huh? Ok.

We had jurisdiction over the largest mental health facility for criminally insane men in the state... there was some understanding about what might be turned into a weapon. I once watched an inmate attempt to kill his attorney with a pencil. Two others made a well-planned grab for a deputy's gun as they were exiting the courtroom. It was his public defender who foiled the attempt.

[mary,tx]

Old courthouse you could enter from any direction, no security at all.
New building, which we've had for several years now, you go in one door and through security.

[Vickie44]

I was going to court regarding my ex who was arrested for violating my Order of Protection 11 times , tried to do physical violence twice. They took the pocket corkscrew from my purse on the way in and then he got on the elevator I was on after court was over!