Security tightened at Columbiana County Courthouse

By D.a. Wilkinson

Access cards to the courthouse will be restricted to workers whose time is spent primarily in the courthouse.

LISBON — Bert Dawson, the Columbiana County engineer now in his 11th term, said he won’t mind going through the front door of the courthouse.

County officials recently tightened access to the building under new regulations that were recently adopted by the Courthouse Security Committee and the county commissioners.

Under the committee’s old rules, county workers and officials entered the courthouse through the back door by using a swipe card.

The rear door is closer to the courthouse parking lot and gives workers easy access to many offices.

The public enters the building through the front doors, where there is an armed security guard and a metal-detection scanner.

But Eric Moore, courthouse chief of security, wanted to tighten access. The idea came from informal suggestions made by the security officials for the Ohio Supreme Court when the court visited Lisbon earlier this year. The state’s top court wouldn’t comment.

Workers and officials have swipe cards that give them access to the courthouse.

Some, such as Dawson, work in other buildings.

The new change is that only workers who work most of the time in the courthouse will get cards for the courthouse.

Dawson said, “It’s not a big thing,” and added, “walking from the parking lot to the front door is about 30 steps.”

Courthouse workers are also not allowed to let unauthorized people in through the back door.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.