The Adams County Courthouse is a large, imposing building &045; but its walls are porous. With five entrances and no security except in the courtrooms, the courthouse leaves its employees and visitors vulnerable, say judicial and law enforcement personnel.

&uot;All we’ve got is courtroom security,&uot; Sheriff Ronny Brown said. &uot;We don’t have courthouse security.&uot;

But in the wake of courthouse shootings in Atlanta and the murders of a federal judge’s family members in Illinois, county officials are taking a much closer look at how to shore up our own facilities.

Close calls

Bessie Bradley has worked in the courthouse for 28 years, serving as court administrator for Judge Lillie Blackmon Sanders since 1996.

One of the strangest encounters she can recall happened in about 1997. Bradley and others had seen a man walking on the second floor near the courtroom &045; on a day court was not in session. They wondered who he was, but when he disappeared they thought he had exited the building.

&uot;We assumed he went down the stairwell,&uot; Bradley said. &uot;But the courtroom was unlocked.&uot;

But when Bradley went into the courtroom alone later in the day, she could smell coffee brewing. The stranger had made himself at home.

&uot;He was reared back in the chair talking to himself,&uot; she said. &uot;He had been there all day.&uot;

Bradley immediately called authorities, who picked the man up. He hadn’t done any harm, other than frightening Bradley.

But the incident has remained with her, an example of just how unsecure her workplace is.

&uot;When you’re working, you put it out of your mind,&uot; she said. &uot;But after last week it just comes to the forefront. It is time that they did something.&uot;

Bradley said one of the security problems is courthouse personnel wear no identification.

&uot;You don’t know employees from visitors,&uot; Bradley said. &uot;We just all mingle together.&uot;

The close calls are numerous &045; fights in courtrooms or visitors causing disturbances in the clerk’s office. Circuit Clerk M.L. &uot;Binkey&uot; Vines even remembers a witness in a drug case who had a contract on his life.

Moffett trial

&uot;There’s certainly room for improvement,&uot; Circuit Judge Forrest &uot;Al&uot; Johnson said of courthouse security.

Johnson said he has seen a &uot;few tense times.&uot;

Perhaps the tensest time in recent memory was the Greg Moffett murder trial in November. The case, in which Moffett was accused of killing his girlfriend with a claw hammer, aroused strong feelings on both sides.

Authorities found boxcutters in a courthouse bathroom while the trial was going on. Extra deputies were brought in to beef up security in the courtroom, and the trial proceeded without any incidents.

In fact, the judges always have deputies on hand when court is in session, Johnson said.

But both Bradley and Johnson said the courtrooms aren’t the areas they worry about. It’s the fact that anyone can walk into the courthouse and into any of the offices &045; including the judges’ chambers.

&uot;There’s absolutely nothing to stop someone from coming in my office,&uot; Johnson said. &uot;Anybody can stick a gun in their pocket and walk right up to my office and right up to my desk.&uot;

Johnson believes one entrance to the courthouse would help cut down that risk.

&uot;You can’t predict what’s going to happen,&uot; Johnson said. &uot;There are security steps you can take to manage the threat.&uot;

For Johnson, an even greater worry in recent weeks has not been the Atlanta shootings but the murders of the husband and mother of a federal judge near Chicago.

&uot;That’s a much more dangerous situation,&uot; Johnson said. &uot;Nobody knew this guy was out there or that he had these feelings.

&uot;I don’t expect to have an armed guard with me all the time,&uot; he said. &uot;But we can make certain people don’t bring guns into the courthouse and that we have some way to control access to the offices.&uot;

What’s in place

The courthouse does have security measures for the courtrooms.

At least one county deputy is on duty when county court is in session. When criminal defendants are brought to court, Bradley said, they are in shackles, and usually are surrounded by more than one deputy.

County officials are able to use the federal marshals’ metal detector, and they also borrowed a wand from the Natchez Police Department, Vines said.

&uot;You must go through a metal detector before entering the courtroom,&uot; he said.

Vines said he discusses security with potential juries, asking them to be aware of what’s going on in the courtroom. Packages, books and anything that could conceal a weapon are also not allowed in the courtroom.

When court is in session, authorities block off one of the stairwells to restrict access.

But like others, Vines, whose office is on the first floor, worries about the offices that are not protected, not just the courtrooms.

And many of those offices take in money from the public.

&uot;The only thing I have in my office is an axe handle,&uot; Vines said. &uot;This is not New York, this is not Washington, D.C., but it could happen here,&uot; Vines said.

Federal help

The federal marshals who guard U.S. Judge David Bramlette’s courtroom are deputized to help with Adams County courtrooms as well.

&uot;We’d be in bad shape if we didn’t have them,&uot; Brown said.

When those marshals move to the federal courthouse under construction on Pearl Street, &uot;that’s when we’re going to be in a real bind,&uot; Brown said.

That’s why Brown has felt the urgency to shore up security, even before incidents happened in the courthouse and in Atlanta.

Plan of action

Brown has a plan, developed from his own ideas merged with predecessor Tommy Ferrell’s proposal, to increase security throughout the courthouse.

The sheriff’s plan calls for one entrance to the courthouse, and everyone who enters would have to go through a metal detector. Federal officials continue to look for other used equipment for Adams County, Brown said.

&uot;If we can do it, we’re going to have one entrance,&uot; Brown said.

Brown proposed the plan last year as county supervisors were beginning to budget, but the $250,000 price tag proved too expensive for tight times.

At the time, Brown would have been able to use an X-ray machine and metal detector federal officials were ready to give away &045; but because Brown didn’t have the money for officers to man the equipment, he had to turn them down.

Last week county supervisors agreed to form a task force made up of judges and the sheriff to look at ways to improve courthouse security.

The $250,000 Brown had originally proposed would pay for five new deputies to man the courthouse, justice court and the juvenile justice center. Other costs include monitors and security for the entrances.

If the sheriff’s office doesn’t get the money to pay for more deputies, Brown said he will rearrange staffing to make sure the courthouse is covered.

&uot;If I have to take someone off the streets, I will,&uot; he said.

Brown says he will beef up security &045; whether he gets the money or not.

&uot;This agency’s going to do it,&uot; he said.