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Legislators to look at courthouse security statewide
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia’s piecemeal court security plans may be replaced by a statewide standard in the wake of last week’s deadly courthouse shootings in Atlanta.
Lawmakers say this morning that they’re considering a first-ever set of laws mandating how criminal defendants should be secured in county courthouses.
Last Friday, an accused rapist wrestled a gun away from a sheriff’s deputy at the Fulton County Courthouse and opened fire, leaving a judge and three others dead.
The shootings — and subsequent daylong search for the suspected gunman — put the whole state on edge and has people taking a closer look at courthouse security practices.
As in most of the country, court security in Georgia is under the purview of the county sheriff, and security practices vary courthouse to courthouse — sometimes judge to judge.
But that may change in Georgia. Lawmakers made plans today to set up a summer task force of law enforcement officers to recommend whether a state security standard is needed.
The chairman of the House Public Safety Committee — Republican Burke Day — says he is NOT sure whether a statewide plan is called for. Day is from Chatham County, where deputies do NOT carry firearms in courtrooms. He said counties probably know best how to handle their own security, but that if new laws are called for, they’ll be considered.
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