WEDOWEE — The Randolph County Sheriff's Office plans to review policies with employees after a security officer denied 1819 News access to the courthouse.
Regular hours of operation at the courthouse in Wedowee are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. When denied access at 12:30 p.m., a security officer told 1819 News that most of the people inside were on their lunch break.
Article I, Section 13 of the Constitution of Alabama mandates that all courts shall be open to public access. County commissions set business hours, and there is no lunch break at the Randolph County Courthouse.
Randolph County Commissioner Derek Farr said the commission has recently discussed security measures after business hours, but said there is no policy to deny entry into the courthouse during normal operating hours.
"As long as you go through security, you should be able to go into the courthouse," said Farr. "It's the people's house."
The Randolph County Sheriff's Office is also housed inside the courthouse, and the sheriff's office employs security for the courthouse. Sheriff David Cofield told 1819 News the public should be allowed access to the courthouse during business hours.
"We know you can't deny access like that," said Cofield. "We know that, and you would think the security would know that."
The District Attorney and Judge of Probate have offices inside the courthouse.
Chief Deputy Donnie Grant said he has spoken with the security officer's direct supervisor to look into the incident.
"We have a lot of visitors come to the courthouse each day," explained Grant. "This is the first complaint like this that I've personally heard about. Most of the time our Security Officers are given praise for being helpful, and that's what I like to hear."
Grant said there will be a policy review with all security officers and an evaluation of what corrective action may be needed.
"This is the taxpayers' building, and we want to make sure they have access to it while also maintaining a safe environment for all the employees and the people visiting," Grant added.
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