Security order moves to
Supreme Court
By Heather Mangold
City
Editor
An order proposed by Circuit Court Judge Ronald
Melichar to implement security checkpoints at the Tippecanoe County
Courthouse will move on to the Indiana Supreme Court.
On Thursday, special Judge Raymond Kickbush ruled
in favor of a mandate, proposed by Judge Melichar, to increase security
at all public access doors to the courthouse.
Kickbush decided that the eight doors leading into
the courthouse could remain open to the public, if metal detectors were
installed in each one.
County commissioners and council members of Tippecanoe
County opposed the mandate order. Kickbush disregarded that opinion
on Thursday.
County Commissioner Ruth Shedd said she was very
disappointed about last week's ruling to increase security at the Tippecanoe
County courthouse.
"We thought possibly Judge Kickbush didn't take
into consideration some of our testimony that was given," said Shedd.
As a result, commissioners and council members
held a public meeting on Friday to discuss the results of Thursday's
hearing.
"We made a motion to wave our right to review,"
said Shedd. "This means it automatically goes to the Indiana Supreme
Court."
Shedd said that she expects the case to go before
the Indiana Supreme Court sometime within the next month or so.
Shedd said she did not feel that there was anything
else that county commissioners and council members could do.
"We've still gotten feedback from some of the public
saying this isn't fair for one individual judge to tell basically the
whole county to close a public building, and that is what has happened,"
said Shedd.
Shedd said the judge's decision is not what the
public seems to want.
"We didn't see any harm in what we had already
put in," said Shedd.
Commissioners previously passed an ordinance that
would not allow guns or knives in the courthouse. If someone were caught
with such materials, he or she would be arrested.
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