Scott County updating buildings, security in and around courthouse

BENTON, Mo. — Scott County is using the summertime to make some updates to its buildings and security in and around the courthouse.

“We’ve got lots of improvements going on this summer,” said Scott County First District Commissioner Dennis Ziegenhorn.

Among the biggest changes was closing all entrances to the courthouse — with the exception of the east front doors — to both employees and members of the public.

“We’re doing this to ensure the safety of everyone,” Ziegenhorn said. “There are a lot of people coming to court, and we want to make sure no one is carrying a firearm when they come in. We’ll also be installing metal detectors a the courthouse.”

Exits can still be made at any of the doors within the courthouse, Ziegenhorn noted.

Several construction projects are also taking place. Currently, a new roof is being placed on the 19-year-old jail. The jail is also receiving a facelift with some cleaning and painting of the interior and exterior, he said.

Repairs are also being made at the Judicial Building and Sheriff’s Office Building. je said. As a result, the Judicial Building, including the Division 5 Courtroom, is temporarily closed while the repairs are made.

However, business is going on as usual.

“We transformed the commissioners chambers into a temporary, though it’s now hard-wired for long-term if needed, courtroom,” said Scott County Circuit Clerk Christy Hency. “This allows us to keep the flow of court with the least amount of interruption while the repairs are made. It is a fairly decent size courtroom.”

For the short-term, the video conferencing equipment was not moved, but that could easily be added down the road, Hency said.

“The county has needed an additional courtroom for some time now. It doesn’t help with jury trials but does for everything else for now,” Hency said.

Courtrooms were relocated to the Courthouse as follows: Division 3-courtroom level, large courtroom; Division 4, second floor, north hallway; Division TC, or treatment court, second floor, south hallway; Division Comm, first floor, south hallway (Scott County commissioners chambers).

“We budgeted about $600,000 for the projects, and we’re hoping to still come in under budget,” Ziegenhorn said.

In addition, the war memorial located on the front corner of the courthouse has also been repaired this summer.

Blacktopping is also another big summer project, and it’s going well, Ziegenhorn said.

“Rainfall has delayed some projects,” he said. “It was hard to get started because of the rain. It backs up many businesses, but things are going great now.”