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Photo by Hans Hallgren

Jarrod Poley, left, and Lynn Schonert pose Thursday with the metal detector they will use as part of new security measures soon to be installed at the Moffat County Courthouse.

Diana Meyer said she's seen numerous confrontational or potentially dangerous incidents happen during her 20 years working on the second floor at the Moffat County Courthouse.

Soon-to-be implemented security measures for that floor - which houses the Moffat County Combined Courts and offices for the court clerks, 14th Judicial District Attorney's Office and Moffat County Probation Department - can prevent more of those incidents from happening in the future.

"It's going to make us feel better because everybody is going to have to (be screened)," said Meyer, the clerk of the court, whose office has about seven employees.

"We've wanted it for a long time, and we're really grateful to the (Moffat County Commission) that they went forward and got something in place for us. : This isn't going to be 100 percent, but it's something."

Thursday was the first official day for the Moffat County Sheriff's Office newest employees, Lynn Schonert, 53, and Jarrod Poley, 26, who were hired as courthouse security officers.

They will begin handling security duties at the courthouse April 6, after tending to administrative and training matters.

Officials on the second floor have long desired security measures, but funding had been an issue.

That changed in October 2008, when the Court Security Commission awarded Moffat County with $96,478 in grant money.

The money was used to pay for a full-time employee, Schonert, and a part-time employee, Poley. It also paid for two 800 mHz radios, two Tasers and a hand-held security wand.

The county already owned two metal detectors.

Although there are security details and procedures still to be determined, at its core, the new security measures will entail a security officer screening everyone who comes onto the second floor.

People will have to pass through a metal detector before being allowed in, and items "suspicious in nature" will not be permitted.

The security officers will be armed.

Moffat County Sheriff Tim Jantz reiterated Thursday that the new security measures are a "work in progress."

"We've gone from zero, and we're not going to be at 100 percent anytime soon," he said.

However, Jantz said the security measures are an attempt to provide safety on the second floor while maintaining convenient public access throughout the rest of the building.

Schonert, a former Routt County Sheriff's Office deputy for eight years, worked court security at the Routt County Courthouse for about six years. He said he came across several verbal altercations and very few physical ones "because we were an armed presence there."

He recommended court visitors keep it simple when it comes to the items they bring with them.

"If they're uncomfortable with anything being searched, don't bring it," he said. Most of the time, the items that set off the metal detector are keys, loose change and cell phones.

Michael O'Hara, chief judge of the 14th Judicial District, a long-time proponent for security measures on the second floor, said emotions sometimes run high in court cases, causing people to do things they wouldn't normally do.

He has seen many incidents during the years, including one that stands out. A woman on the witness stand in a domestic case pulled out a butcher's knife and showed it to the court.

The woman, O'Hara said, wasn't aggressive or threatening with the weapon, and only displayed the knife to the court to better illustrate a point she was trying to make about the case.

Although no harm came from the incident, it "demonstrated how, if she wanted to do something, the opportunity existed," the judge said.

"A lot of people think I want this to protect the judges," O'Hara said. "It really is not that at all. : Court should be accountable to the public and that should mean access. You ought to be able to come to a safe place to get those disputes resolved."

Like Meyer and O'Hara, Annette Norton also is in favor of the bolstered security effort. As the probation supervisor for the 14th Judicial District, she said she's "very pleased" with the security measures.

The probation department in Moffat County has the highest caseload in the tri-county judicial district, and there have been times when people have reported to probation officers on the second floor while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, she said.

"I think that adds a component of unpredictability to anybody," Norton said.

Moffat County, O'Hara said, was the last county in the judicial district to add security to its courthouse. He said the point behind the added security isn't to inconvenience the public but to prevent a potentially dangerous incident from happening in the future.

"I want witnesses to be safe," the judge said. "I want victims to be safe, jurors to be safe. : We just want to reduce the likelihood of (something) happening."

Joshua Roberts can be reached at 875-1791, or jroberts@craigdailypress.com.