Bartholomew County Sheriff Chief Deputy Maj. Chris Lane
Bartholomew County officials will pay for each county courthouse courtroom to have an armed security guard present during hearings or during open court sessions.
The Bartholomew County Council approved a base salary of $50,000 for each member of courthouse security, as well as for staff at the county jail, on Monday.
The council has approved $184,627 from its general fund to add two additional security personnel at the courthouse, as well as a supervising lieutenant. They will be in addition to three existing security officers.
One guard would be assigned in each of the three major courtrooms, while two will remain at the entrance to the building. The sixth person would be a supervising lieutenant who makes out schedules, checks in daily with the courts to coordinate schedules, patrols the courthouse halls when time allows, and fills in vacancies when necessary, Sheriff Chris Lane said.
Although the sheriff will be responsible for both hiring and supervision of courthouse security personnel, the judges will have oversight over the security force, the sheriff said.
While Monday’s decision is retroactive to July 1, the funds approved will pay for additional security personnel only through the end of the year. The council will have to revisit the matter when they begin 2024 budget talks on Aug. 21.
Other than salary, approved amounts include benefits such as the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA), a payroll tax to fund Social Security and Medicare, and employer contributions to the Public Employees’ Retirement Fund (PERF). It also covers matrix pay, which is essentially additional money paid to those certified in certain law enforcement skills, the sheriff said.
The base salary will be paid out of a courthouse security account,which has been separated from funds created for the sheriff’s office and jail staff. In contrast, benefits will come out of the general fund account controlled by the county commissioners, county Auditor Pia O’Connor said.
During a June 5 council work session, Circuit Judge Kelly Benjamin, Superior Court 1 Judge James Worton and Superior Court 2 Judge Jon Rhode, cited a number of security incidents that have caused courthouse disruptions, as well as threats directed at judges and court staff. In one time, security had to be placed with Benjamin’s husband at his workplace.
Rohde showed his concern early last year when he reduced his court staff by one in order to have funds necessary to hire an additional security guard.
“This has been discussed for 25 to 30 years,” council member Mark Gorbett said. “It’s time we moved in the right direction, instead of putting Band-Aids on problems.”
The unanimous vote to bump up the base salary for each civilian jail officer to $50,000 passed with little discussion. That’s because the jail already has the necessary funds due to being understaffed this year, Lane said. The raises for the corrections staff will cost $138,969 from July 1 through the end of the year.
Retention has been a problem at the jail for quite some time. Late last year, there were 15 openings for corrections officers, which meant jail personnel were getting “burned out” by working up to 70 hours a week, Lane said.
“When you get to so much overtime, and guys are working 12-hour shifts, and they’re working five, six, seven, eight or more shifts in a row where they don’t have that day off, their work-life balance doesn’t exist,” the sheriff said last month. “And I think that can create a lot of other health issues.”
