by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
When Duval County Chief Judge Donald Moran called his courthouse “unsafe” nine months ago, he complained that security relied too heavily on bailiffs. Now many of those bailiffs are gone and the building’s safety has deteriorated, according to an influential local trial lawyers group.
The local chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates complained about the lack of security in a Dec. 30 letter to Jacksonville Sheriff John Rutherford. Then ABOTA president Jeptha Barbour of Marks Gray wrote that his group had “grave concerns” about the lack of bailiffs and generally lax security at the Duval County Courthouse.
It’s not clear how many bailiffs were removed from the courthouse. JSO did not return phone calls seeking comment. Courthouse administrators say about 28 bailiff positions were eliminated late last year.
The danger is most acute near the judges’ chambers and outside of family courtrooms, where the emotional nature of the cases can lead to erratic behavior, said Barbour. Bailiffs stationed at those locations used to act as a deterrent to violence, he said.
“It’s very striking to lawyers who practice in other counties,” said Barbour. “In Green Cove Springs (in Clay County) you can’t get near the judges’ chambers without an escort from an armed deputy.
“What we have here is non-existent security. There’s nothing past the checkpoint and metal detector at the entrance. If they’re unarmed they can get in the courthouse. If they can get in the courthouse, they can get into the judges’ chambers.”
Barbour thought the threat was serious enough that he hesitated to talk about it for publication. He didn’t want to give anyone any ideas, he said.
In an interview prior to the bailiffs’ removal, Moran said security depended entirely on manpower. JSO Assistant Chief Randy Hammond, who is in charge of courthouse security, agreed at the time with Moran’s assessment.
“It’s fair to say the building isn’t adequate for today’s cases,” said Hammond in a March 2005 interview. “We try to compensate with manpower, but it’s not a foolproof method.”
In a written response to Barbour’s letter, Rutherford said that courthouse security was a relatively recent funding burden for JSO. The state’s recent overhaul of the way it funds its courts, known as Article 5, shifted the responsibility to Duval County’s executive branch, he wrote.
Rutherford said that he and Moran reviewed security at the courthouse. That process should produce “enhanced security measures,” at some point, he said.
New ABOTA president Tom Edwards of Peek Cobb Edwards & Ashton, said the City is going to have to come to grips with its responsibility to keep the 50-year-old courthouse secure, particularly since plans have been scrapped to move civil trials into a modern building.
“This courthouse is not set up to rise to the levels of security required by modern threats,” said Edwards. “Cameras, automated locking devices on doors — things that would be built into a new courthouse — are absent in the current building.”
At a minimum, the City needs to shoulder the cost to hire enough bailiffs, said Edwards. He thinks the City should look at that cost as closely as it has examined the cost of building a new courthouse.
“I can’t think of a more fundamental responsibility for an elected official than the security of the hall of justice,” said Edwards. “If the money isn’t going to be spent up front to provide a safe building one way or another, then the City is going to have to keep taking the hits to pay for the manpower.”