Curry officials agree to add second courthouse security officer

CLOVIS — After weighing the cost of adding sheriff’s office staff versus its responsibility to keep the county courthouse safe, the Curry County Commission tipped the scales for at least one new employee Tuesday morning.

By a voice vote, the commission agreed during Tuesday’s regular meeting to add a second courthouse security officer at a cost of between $37,120 and $52,000, depending on benefits.

County Manager Lance Pyle said the position will be posted, beginning Sunday, and that the county had enough savings from vacant positions to cover the costs.

The sheriff’s office currently supplies one courthouse security officer, and Sheriff Wesley Waller said a tour of Chaves County facilities indicates the process would work best with four officers.

In the absence of security officers, other duties — including manning the security checkpoint — have been covered by court bailiffs.

“We’ve been putting Band-Aids on it for years,” District Judge Drew Tatum said, noting bailiffs are being tasked to do things they aren’t equipped or trained to do.

Moving all county offices to the new administrative complex on the 400 block of Axtell Street has allowed court staff to improve security by limiting public entry to the south handicapped-accessible entrance.

But moving all people through one line has potential impacts on the judicial process. During a jury paneling, Tatum said, the line can be more than 100 deep — and the longer everybody’s in line, the higher chance jurors hear prejudicial information.

“They’re commingling with victims, witnesses,” Tatum said. “We don’t know who they are until they get (to the security checkpoint).”

Commissioner Chet Spear had concerns at the indication the sheriff’s office would ask for a third court security officer in the upcoming fiscal year, noting the two positions could create an extra cost of up to $104,000. He asked Pyle where the money would come from if the county’s current vacancies no longer existed; Pyle said that would be evaluated during formation of the 2017-18 budget.

Tatum said it’s a bad idea to roll the dice on which court procedures need security and which don’t, because incidents seem to break out at the hearings where you’d least expect. If there’s a security incident in a courtroom, Tatum said, staff can’t leave the security checkpoint or other courtrooms unguarded to provide backup help.

Commissioner Robert Thornton asked, since courthouse security is the responsibility of the commission and not necessarily the sheriff’s office, if private security was a possible avenue. Waller said there would be so much overlap because the sheriff’s office is responsible for prison transport.

Spear asked if any study had been done about how counties of relative size staffed their courthouses. Pyle said the only comparison he knows of dealt largely with salary and benefits. Waller said his information was based on his visit to Chaves County.