MILTON — A statewide workgroup made up of Florida judges plans to address courthouse security within the state’s 67 counties.
Florida Chief Justice Jorge Labarga said the measure is necessary.
“Every day in Florida’s courthouses, people are living through heartbreaking dilemmas in both criminal and civil cases,” Labarga said. “We must do everything in our power to make sure that these buildings remain safe and secure, and that the troubles we hope to resolve are not compounded by acts of violence in the very place reserved for justice. It is key to our freedoms as Americans.”
Judge Robert Hilliard, who has practiced law in Santa Rosa County since 1995, said he remembers when he could enter and exit the courthouse through a side entrance without passing a metal detector.
More safety concerns exist today, he said.
“The concern, I think, is that someone may bring something into the courthouse with ill intent,” he said.
The courthouse’s layout now allows incarcerated individuals to walk near the general public.
“It's my understanding you ideally have three different pathways through a courthouse: a secure pathway for incarcerated individuals, and then you've got a pathway for the general public, then a pathway for staff, because obviously it's a good idea to keep inmates away from the general public, not just for safety concerns but in the law we have a lot of reasons to keep people who might be going to trial separate from people who might be witnesses or jurors in that trial…
“If you have a person who's on trial for a crime, you don't want him passing in the hallway with the jurors who are going to be deciding the facts of the case.”
Hilliard also said civil court cases can become heated.
“One of the things we do here relates to domestic violence … Sometimes you have people coming in with emotions running high, and sometimes it's a good idea to keep parties separated.”
Escambia County Judge Linda Nobles — who represents the First Judicial Circuit, made up of Santa Rosa, Escambia, Okaloosa and Walton counties, in the workgroup — said not all circuits have representation.
The First Judicial Circuit may have been included due to its diversity of rural and urban courthouse locations, she said.
As the Trial Courthouse Security Workgroup was announced Aug. 23, Nobles said its members met once so far to get to know each other. She said the next step will likely be to start gathering information on Florida’s courthouses.
Santa Rosa County may also receive a visit from Labarga, who plans direct outreach to county governments, including personal visits to county commissioners and sheriffs.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Workgroup to focus on Florida courthouse safety