The county will hire two new courthouse security officers who will help check people as they come into buildings and protect staff, offenders and visitors coming into courts.
Each of the new officers will be paid $31,041 per year, plus a clothing allowance for uniforms.
Sheriff Doug Cox originally had requested three new employees but was approved to hire two. The new Superior Court 4 opened this year in the county courthouse, while the busy Superior Court 3 moved to the county’s north annex on Jefferson Street, requiring additional staff to cover that building.
“We needed three and three is ideal, but we can live with two,” Sheriff Doug Cox said.
Council members had asked the sheriff to try to cover the courts with jail officers or transport staff, but that was taking officers away from other duties and the county was paying a significant amount of overtime, council member Beth Boyce said. Hiring the two officers was the best solution.
The county recently purchased a new metal detector for the north annex and will buy a new X-ray scanner, similar to the one already in use at the courthouse, he said.
