Courtroom security was a top concern at the commissioners’ meeting on Dec. 1.
Sheriff Landric Reid said that he and Steven Baldwin, a courtroom specialist inspector for the U.S. Marshals Service, inspected the courtrooms in March.
In Courtroom 1 in the sheriff’s office, they found a cellphone and other objects hidden in a ceiling tile in the men’s bathroom.
“That’s a security issue for the people that use that office because the people that come to court to get through the metal detector, they line up by those doors,” Reid said. “And those people coming out of their office, that’s a security risk for them.”
In Courtroom 2, which is used for superior court, Baldwin noted that Anson uses security guards at its metal detectors, which Reid said is rarely done. Deputies should be placed there instead, he said.
“One of the examples today, at noon, the presiding judge over the superior courtroom, he had to leave early because he had to go to Raleigh to file for re-election,” Reid said. “Once he left, the courtrooms closed down for today. There’s superior court tomorrow, Thursday and Friday.”
On any of those days, the judge could be shot by someone who suspected a case outcome wouldn’t be in his or her favor, as the hypothetical shooter could hide a gun and go through the metal detectors without a problem, Reid said.
“That’s a real security problem,” Reid said. “That’s a when, not an if. If you look on the news, around the country, there’s judges being shot, there’s lawyers being shot, people in courthouses. There’s people that don’t care about the court system. And if you really think about who’s at the courthouse, we have murderers. We have people that have cut people up and done some of the things you never would expect to see people do. And that’s one of the biggest concerns we have.”
Baldwin’s report was provided to the commissioners at a previous meeting that Reid was unable to attend, he said. During the time that court is not in session, courthouse staff feel insecure working there when the security is so much lower, Reid said.
Reid does provide extra security, assigning deputies to escort judges to and from their cars.
“Times are changing,” he said. “There’s people that would rather cut your head off than shake your hand. Times are changing. It’s not if, but when.”
While he appreciates the security staff, Reid said guards are not trained like sworn deputies are to respond to a shooting.
Reid provided a cost estimate to bring deputies to help provide more security at the courthouse. He also wants to put metal detectors and an X-ray machine immediately at the door of the courthouse rather than its current location further inside the building.
The board did not immediately vote on the issue, but board Chairwoman Anna Baucom asked Reid to come up with a plan to implement changes piece by piece.
ANIMAL CRUELTY ORDINANCE
Denise Whitley approached the board and asked it to pass an animal abuse ordinance. Whitley said she has rescued hundreds of animals over the years and sees them in appalling conditions. For officers to be able to do something about it, the county needs an ordinance against abuse, she said.
The ordinance could be written by Lilesville Police Chief Bobby Gallimore, Whitley said, adding that Gallimore had written a similar ordinance for Surry County before and had agreed to write one for Anson.
Board clerk Bonnie Huntley said she had pulled Gallimore’s earlier ordinance as well as ordinances for other counties that the board could compare.
Whitley also said Reid had said he will try to get an animal cruelty officer when he can.
The commissioners asked Whitley if she would put together and head a team to work on the issue and she agreed. She will present the names of the people she would like to help her at a future commissioners’ meeting.
AGRI-CIVIC CENTER
Janine Rywak, director of the Anson County Cooperative Extension office, told the commissioners that organizers are about $3 million short for the planned Agri-Civic Center.
The original cost of the project in 2008 was lower than the current estimate, Rywak said. Since then, the center size has been increased and construction costs have been raised, Rywak said. There have also been unexpected fees.
Baucom asked Rywak to check with the architects to see if the building size could be reduced to meet the commissioners’ original budget, then added onto later as budgets allow.
Keeping a larger conference room in the building would allow the center to house bigger events, such as graduations, Rywak said.
“It would put us in the position to be able to host some events that other counties are currently hosting that could bring some more people to the county, but how many that would be is the question,” Rywak said. “Do you build something that can hold 1,500 people but only have three events a year that big?”
Rywak noted that having the ability to host larger events may help create businesses such as restaurants, caterers and hotels.
When commissioners asked if they may be able to help raise the funds, Lee Roy Lookabill Jr., chairman of the resource development committee for the center, said there is no way to determine how much the committee will be able to raise, but that he will raise what he can.
The board also appointed its chair and vice chair. Baucom was reappointed as chairwoman and Ross Streater was named vice chairman.
ALCOHOL REFERENDUM
Jeff Boothby said one way to earn money to help projects such as the courthouse and Agri-Civic Center would be to make Anson a wet county.
Boothby, chairman of the Anson County Tourism Development Authority, said allowing alcohol to be sold by licensed businesses across the county would allow for economic growth by attracting more businesses and generating more county revenue through sales tax. It would allow current businesses to expand, he said.
“And with success comes other people who want to share their success,” Boothby said. “We’d have more businesses coming into our county — restaurants, convenience stores and things like that — that we wouldn’t have otherwise. When we’ve looked at tourism development in the county, outdoor eco-tourism has been a big part of that. And where a lot of other counties have capitalized on that outdoor eco-tourism is through music venues, with wedding and other event-type venues like that.”
Anson’s dry status makes it a tougher sell to those venues, Boothby said, since the businesses could get their ABC licenses in a neighboring county.
Soil tests have also shown that Anson is one of the best counties in the state to support vineyards, and Stanly has taken advantage of similar results to successfully start the industry there, Boothby said. He added that vineyards attract “a certain type of visitor” who is more likely to spend money than someone coming to another type of event.
Even hotels rely on their ABC license to keep their profits up when it isn’t peak travel season, Boothby said. Currently, the hotels could only sell alcohol within wet city limits, where they are going to face higher taxes, he said.
Boothby said ABC licenses are given out only after the businesses are carefully checked to make sure they are responsible.
“It’s a great way to expand our economy with very little effort,” Boothby said. “Not only will we have more outsiders coming here, but we’ll keep more Anson tax dollars in Anson County.”
Boothby said that littering may become less of an issue if the county was wet, and other shopping may increase.
“Right now, we have people that are on the fringes of the county for whom it is just as close for them to go to Albemarle, Rockingham, Chesterfield, Cheraw, Marshville, Pageland than it is to Wadesboro or one of the other municipalities that’s wet,” Boothby said. “And so when we look at that, not only they getting on the road and getting out of the county to spend their money, but as our shopping habits generally are, we’re going to end up going and buying our groceries there, we’re going to buy some gasoline there, we’re going to get all the shopping done that we can so that we don’t have to go out and do some shopping again until we have to. And so when we look at the revenues that we lose with that, it’s amazing.”
People driving that far often toss their cans out the window to avoid an open container ticket, Boothby said, adding that beer bottles and cans make up a portion of the litter along Anson County roads.
Boothby asked that commissioners let voters decide on the issue during next year’s general election in November. The board did not vote on the issue Monday.
Reach reporter Imari Scarbrough at 704-994-5471 and follow her on Twitter @ImariScarbrough.
