Elk County Sheriff Doug Hanks has instituted a new security feature to secure the safety of employees, and others with legitimate business in the Elk County Courthouse.

Visitors to the Elk County Courthouse in Howard  will be required to  identify themselves before a video camera at the entrances and wait to be buzzed in, a dramatic new security feature that will be installed immediately.

The enhanced security measures have been ordered by Sheriff Hanks largely as a response to recent criminal threats made to court personnel located at the courthouse.   The nature of the threats illustrated the vulnerability of persons working at the courthouse, as well as posing a potential interruption of the routine business conducted in all other offices located in the building.

The video cameras will be monitored at the dispatch office located in the jail building.  Currently access to the courthouse is unrestricted and unmonitored.  The new security measures are not designed to restrict  access to the building.  Rather the system will provide a record of who had access and potentially discourage anyone with anti-social or criminal intent.

The installation of the video cameras and locked entrance doors was the most cost effective way to control unwanted access to the courthouse, according to the sheriff.

Further, the public should be aware that weapons, which include rifles and shotguns, are illegal to carry into the courthouse building by anyone except law enforcement officers while on duty.

The regular business hours of the courthouse will remain the same.  The sheriff would like to remind any visitor that the business hours of most offices in the courthouse changed over a year ago to 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday only.   All offices except the District Court are closed on Fridays.

The District Court maintains the office days and hours of 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.  Because the District Court office will be the only office open on Fridays, access will be denied to all visitors except those having legitimate business with the court.