Courthouse security partially privatized

Courthouse security was partially privatized Tuesday with the arrival of six Wackenhut employees.

The employees, some of whom are armed, will be training side-by-side with deputies for about two weeks. The employees will be working almost exclusively at the metal detectors posted at the main lobby entrances of the government center. A sixth employee will be stationed in the basement control room.

Six deputies currently working security will be transferred back into patrol jobs on the road.

Sheriff Richard Nugent anticipated the security handover and a budget shortfall this year, so he purposefully held off hiring new deputies to fill six vacant positions.

Instead, the courthouse deputies will be taking those jobs, creating a savings of roughly $142,000 to $176,000, according to Bureau Chief Royce Decker.

There will still be a sworn presence at the courthouse. The eight judges and the general magistrate will retain their assigned bailiff, along with the three transport deputies who convey inmates from the jail for court appearances.

The sergeant and lieutenant supervising operations will also keep their assigned jobs.