Bartholomew County judges have had a busy week, one that resulted in some unexpected feedback and an important course correction.
After the media learned of the proposal to move forward with a courthouse cell phone ban, the judges changed course, delaying the implementation to allow more conversation and feedback from the public. They’ve been considering the new rule since October, and said in a Monday conference call with The Republic that they were going to send it to the Indiana Supreme Court with plans to implement the new rule on Jan. 1.
Delaying that change is a smart decision. There are a slew of questions created by the proposed change and, frankly, we don’t have enough answers yet.
The judges, Bartholomew Superior Court 1 Judge James Worton, Bartholomew Circuit Judge Kelly Benjamin and Bartholomew Superior 2 Judge Kathleen “Kitty” Tighe Coriden, proposed a rule to ban cell phones and other types of recording equipment from the courthouse. There would be exceptions — staff, law enforcement, attorneys, etc. — but that type of ban is cause for concern when viewed against Indiana’s Open Door Law and the spirit of keeping people informed.
It also goes against an opinion from Indiana’s Public Access Counselor Luke Britt, who ruled in 2018 that a similar ban in Cass County violated Indiana’s public meetings statute. Even though that’s an advisory opinion and not law, it opens up the possibility of lawsuits to challenge public access violations by public officials.
Other questions involving the proposed rule include not knowing who would decide whether the public or media could have cell phones, along with where they were allowed and for what reason. How to request an exception to the rule wasn’t clear, either.
There were too many questions to move forward in just a few weeks. Thankfully, the judges recognized that.
More time is needed for more voices to join the conversation. The proposed rule was put on the Bartholomew County website for the public to consider, but the link was giving a “404 error” earlier this week. The judges were not aware that the proposal was not able to be viewed by the public. It needs to be.
The Bartholomew County commissioners, who are in charge of the courthouse and all county buildings, didn’t formally vote on the phone ban, instead leaving the matter to the judges. They should have more input on the proposed change, too.
Worton said that more research will be done into how other courthouses handle security issues related to cell phones, and the judges are looking for more feedback from those who frequent the courthouse.
That’s the right move. Deciding to wait on more public input was a prudent choice by the judges.
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