NEWS 25 - WEHT: Evansville, Henderson, Owensboro-NEWS 25 Investigates Courthouse Security

NEWS 25 Investigates Courthouse Security

story by Jennifer Cahill

PIKE CO., IN - After a man threatens to blow up the Pike County courthouse, NEWS 25 looks deeper into the amount of security at court buildings across the Tri-State.

We learn the amount of security in court buildings varies by county, and in many cases, it depends on money. In some counties, there's just not enough.

If not for a tip and quick action by Pike County authorities last week, Kerry Thomas may have had the chance to bring the Pike County courthouse to the ground.

"In this day and age, you never know. You hear things and you have to take things seriously. You never know what people are capable of or what's going to happen," says Pike County Sheriff, Todd Meadors.

Meadors says last week's event pleads a case for added security.

"We do not have courthouse security at our courthouse. We have 3 different entrances and exits and no full-time deputy," Meadors explains.

Our NEWS 25 investigation shows Pike County is not the only county with weaknesses in its court buildings.

Eight counties have full security 24/7: Vanderburgh, Warrick, Gibson, Henderson, Webster, Daviess, McLean and Muhlenberg. These counties have full-time deputies, metal detectors and screening devices.

But not all of those are perfect. In counties like Vanderburgh, county employees can pass through without being screened.

Pike County belongs in the second group, those with security only for certain trials or events. On those days, deputies will guard the court rooms, limit access to one entrance, and screen the public with portable metal detectors or hand wands. Counties in that group include Wayne and Wabash, Illinois, Pike and Dubois, Indiana, and Hopkins County, Kentucky.

"The majority of the time, the courthouse is freely open as far as people coming and going. You really don't know who's coming in, what they're bringing or what they're doing," Meadors says.

There are also counties with little to no security-- Posey and Perry counties.

NEWS 25 did not hear back from Edwards or White counties in Illinois, Union, Ohio, and Hancock, Kentucky, or Spencer County, Indiana.

Most sheriffs say they hope to add more security, but the problem is cost.

At the Evansville-Vanderburgh County Civic Center, new security equipment recently installed cost $150,000-- not including salaries.

"It's just never been in the budget, never funded," says Meadors.

NEWS 25 learned Hopkins County, Kentucky, is in the process of building a new judicial center that will have the highest level of security when finished.