Security improvements coming to Decatur Co. Courthouse

DECATURVILLE, Tenn. — For several years, Decatur County Sheriff Keith Byrd has received grant money to make security improvements to the Decatur County Courthouse.

“We’ve spent the last four years trying to bring it up to state standards,” he said.

He says those grants have made the process easier.

“We got a grant last year to get the X-ray machine and a few other things we needed,” he said.

Now that those improvements are completed, the sheriff wants to make improvements to the jury box and the circuit court clerk’s office.

“Bulletproof glass so people can come in and pay their fines and conduct business with the clerk’s office,” Sheriff Byrd said.

He says it will make the clerks safer while doing their jobs.

“For the most part, it’ll go all the way down the front of this, where people can pass money and documents through to the clerks,” he said.

Another part of the $34,000 grant will go inside the courtroom itself.

“Take this swinging gate and mount it right here,” Sheriff Byrd said. “And that way jurors don’t have to parade through in front of the judge’s bench in order to get to the jury box.”

He says although these are seemingly small improvements, they will make a big difference.

“The people who built this thing had no knowledge of how it should work. So, we’re just trying to fix those little things,” he said.

The improvements are set to begin immediately.