Aug. 16—The Cherokee County Courthouse has new and more efficient security features that ensure safety for all of those in the building.

Anyone coming into the courthouse must go through a metal detector, whether it's for legal purposes or to meet with area leaders.

"We're the entry point for the entire courthouse," Sheriff Jason Chennault said. "When the public comes in, they have to come through. We do not provide security for the city offices, all we do is scan the people that come through to go down to City Hall."

Deputies Carl Daniels, Dave Butts, or Porter Neel stand guard inside the courthouse foyer, where there is an X-ray inspection system and a walk-through metal detector.

"[The X-ray machine] will let you know what's inside somebody's bag. It gives you a general idea of what's in their bag and if an object is 'dark,' we search it to make sure it's not something we want coming in," said Undersheriff James Brown, supervisor of security operations.

Chennault said all those who come inside the courthouse must have their belongings checked, and if entrants have an issue with it, they are more than welcome to leave.

"Your bags are subject to search and no pocket knives, no knives of any kind. At this point right now, we're giving you the option of taking those back out to your car if you want to," Brown said.

Signage is posted in various parts of the entrance to let anyone know what's expected of them before entering the courthouse.

"It's not just knives, it's anything you consider a weapon: scissors, a letter opener, anything like that," Brown said.

The metal detector will let security deputies know if someone is carrying a hidden object, or it will alert if someone is wearing a belt, earrings, etc. Brown said the machine will also alert on someone who has a metal implant, such as a rods, screws, plates, or joint replacements.

"When you show up, you have to empty your pockets into a bin so they can see everything. Then they'll bring it around to the other side or they'll run it through the machine," Brown said.

The entire courthouse has a new and improved security camera system with which Brown and two other administrators in the sheriff's office are able to keep a close eye on activities from their offices.

Those in the sheriff's office couldn't help but laugh when one of the new cameras caught Brown trying to scare someone last week and ended up taking a hard fall on the wet floor. That video footage was posted to the CCSO Facebook page, where others got a good chuckle as well.

The new security features were part of a remodeling project that brought the courthouse into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The total cost of the project was $1.3 million.

"We have the all-new camera system inside and out and all external doors with locking mechanisms," District 3 Commissioner Clif Hall said.

Chennault said a law was passed about 15 years ago that made the sheriff of each county responsible for the security in each courthouse.

"The law doesn't lay out how, we have to do it. It's just up to the sheriff, and some counties have a system like ours, some go even further than ours, and some counties, all they have is a monitor in the sheriff's office," Chennault said.

The sheriff said the county commissioners were generous to purchase all of the security equipment with CARES Act funds.

"Our goal is to always have someone at the front, manning the X-ray machine and the walk-through. If one of them is not here for whatever reason, then that will fall back to either me, or another administrator," Chennault said.

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