Waushara County Courthouse goes to one secured entry with new doors, body and bag scanner for the safety of all

Robert Sivick, Waushara County Administrator has had the one point entry for the Waushara County Courthouse on his radar for the past several years.  “This should have been done five years ago,” he said.  When COVID hit it was the best time to secure the entry and it would serve a dual purpose – checking for COVID symptoms and keeping out dangerous objects.

Judge Guy Dutcher is the chair of the Safety Committee and he agreed that things needed to tighten up.  At first they started with a table until the x-ray body scanner and bag scanner was installed.

The first order of business was new door installations costing $17,305 paid for by the Road to Recovery Act.  The county rolled over money from last year’s budget to fund the X-ray equipment that came in at $35,950.  Sara Luchini, Finance Supervisor, said the county budgeted $46,000 for the project but it came in under budget.

Deputy Galarno was the officer on duty on Nov. 3 and explained how the system works and how much more safe and secure it is for everyone in the courthouse.  He has received very few complaints about the compliance.  “This building represents local government,” said Deputy Galarno.  We must do everything we can to keep our employees and everyone who enter the building safe, he added.

Deputy Galarno says he has not confiscated anything but people have returned to their vehicles to take out things like pocketknives.   He said one suspicious item was a credit card knife and we had the owner take it back to his car.

Prior to this system they just had hand scanning for those entering the courtroom.  That was not effective as there would be people waiting the area by the courtrooms.    Galarno said emotions run high they do sheriffs auctions, child custody, etc.   The Sally Port is adjacent to the scanner and all prisoners are escorted in and escorted out.  He agreed transporting the prisoners to the courthouse is not the best.   In just a week and two days the scanner has scanned over 5,600 bags.

From 7:30 to 8:15 there are two deputies on duty to ease the way for workers to be in on time.  They are open from 7-4:30 Monday thru Friday and they work with three officers on 3 hour shifts.  Garlano added that all the Juvenile Bookings are held at the Waushara County Courthouse.

In addition to the scanning at the Courthouse Galarno also walks through the North Annex two to three times a day to curtail any problems. He said everyone in the courthouse has a panic button and every phone has a panic button.  This shows up on the video screen and officers respond.

Galarno said they do have outside agency check-in so officers can remain armed and we know what weapons are on the property.

It should be noted that the body scanner and bag scanner can be moved to a different location if the architect working on the new building assessment comes up with a better solution for one point entry.  For now this makes the Waushara County Courthouse safe and secure.

In addition to the one point entry, at the end of the day the Deputies check all rooms, particularly restrooms to insure no member of the public is hiding so they wander the building after hours.  They also check exterior door to insure they are properly closed and locked.