In light of last Monday’s incident at the Madison County Courthouse, the Iowa State Bar Association (ISBA) is calling on all county officials responsible for courthouse security to carefully examine the security measures in their courthouses. During the Madison County incident, a man who was being sentenced to 10 years in prison on drug charges pulled out a weapon and brandished it around the courtroom. He escaped, but was apprehended a short time later.

ISBA President Guy Cook says  “Courthouse security for the public, litigants, courthouse employees, and judges must be the of the highest priority in our system of justice and is critical to the rule of law. We cannot wait until a tragedy occurs to have the will to take the preventive measures to ensure safety in our State’s courthouses. There is no price that can be put on a deadly event.”

Cook and ISBA leaders acknowledge the issue of courthouse security varies from county to county. Nevertheless, certain basic security measures should be considered for all county courthouses statewide.They urge county supervisors, legislators and others to review and implement the recommendations in the ISBA’s 115-page courthouse safety and security report published in 2005 by a task force made up of law enforcement leaders at the state and federal level, judges, attorneys and county court clerks.