COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – Nearly half the time the Branch County Courthouse is open for business, there is no security staff at the only entrance to the building. That entrance is also the location of the metal detector station which the public is required to pass through as a safety checkpoint for weapons.
It’s a situation that’s largely existed since the beginning of 2013 when Branch County Commissioners made budget cuts that reduced by more than half the number of deputies at the County Sheriff’s Department. It left Sheriff John Pollack with just enough manpower for a skeleton road patrol crew and not the necessary backups to have someone for courthouse security when the regular on-duty deputy is required to leave his checkpoint station to be the armed officer upstairs when the courts are in session.
There’s some disagreement among Commissioners whether or not the County right now can afford to fund the one and a half added positions at the Sheriff’s Department needs to provide full time Courthouse security with the estimated cost, including benefits, ranging from between $140,000 and $180,000 annually. County Commissioner Don Vrablic, chairman of the board, says while the county is better off than when the budget cuts were made, the improvement has been impaired by corresponding state revenue losses that require continued conservative spending policies by the county.
However, Commissioner Dale Swift, who chairs the board’s Public Safety Committee, believes the opposite environment exists with more than enough surplus budget monies to cover the costs to recall the deputies to adequately staff the courthouse. The matter will likely be addressed as the County Commission over the next two months moves toward approving a 2016 general fund budget.
