Security issues at the Beaufort County Courthouse, the effort to fix them and the battle surrounding it is one of the Washington Daily News’ Top 10 stories of the year.

For years, the lack of security at the county courthouse on West Second Street has been a cause for concern, especially for those who work in the courthouse day in and day out: judges, clerks, administrative support and more. In 2015, after a courthouse incident in which an alert bailiff detained a man acting erratically while carrying a BB gun indistinguishable from a revolver, the plan to increase security gained momentum. County officials budgeted $200,000 for four new positions in the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office to provide that security, but when it came time to put security in place, Sheriff Ernie Coleman was adamant that $200,000 was not enough to cover training, salaries and equipment, including vehicles, for the four additional deputies.

Though at times seeming like a standoff between county officials and the sheriff, and objection on the part of attorneys who do regular business in the courthouse, 2016 did bring changes to the courthouse security. After stakeholder meetings in which it was decided the courthouse back door would be closed to all except employees with keycard access, the county entered a one-year contract of $168,000 with the Greenville-based company Universal Protection Service to handle security. Attorneys with ID would be expedited through security, separate from those lined up and waiting to go through the metal detector at the front entrance — previously located on the second floor of the courthouse — and another basement-level, handicap-accessible entry also would be available.

The plan was rolled out in June, around the same time that Washington Police Department was asked to take over 911 response to courthouse incidents.

“The sheriff informed Director Drakeford of the expansion of courthouse security and advised him that if the private security needed assistance from law enforcement that the call would be transferred to the Washington Police Department,” stated a press release Coleman sent at the time, and further explained his objections to the plan in general. “The sheriff attended the meeting that the security expansion was voted on and spoke against proceeding, not because he felt that additional security was not needed, but because the options had not been fully explored and he did not want the county to waste tax dollars because of lack of planning. The sheriff also spoke about the gap in services that were being discussed. Without powers of arrest, the security personnel would need law enforcement support.”

The issue came to a head at the July meeting of the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners, in which Coleman aired his grievances against commissioners’ choice not to fund sheriff’s office deputies over hiring an outside security firm. Three minutes into reading his statement, then-Chairman Jerry Langley cut off Coleman, telling him his time was up, and when Coleman refused to leave the podium, Langley called a recess and the majority of the board walked out. Commissioners Ron Buzzeo, Hood Richardson and Frankie Waters stayed to hear Coleman out.

Later in the meeting, Langley refuted Coleman’s statement about what was said during the 2015 meeting in which commissioners voted to hire a private security company. At the time, Coleman said he didn’t want to have anything to do with courthouse security and didn’t “need the headache,” according to Langley.

As the contract with Universal is for one year, the issue will come up again shortly into the new year, during 2017-18 county budget meetings.