TRAVIS COUNTY—Attorneys may be subject to more security scrutiny at the Travis County Courthouse if the Commissioners Court approves mandatory metal detector screening.
Lawyers of the defense bar in Austin currently have to fill out an application and submit it to the Travis County Sheriff’s Office.
Once it is submitted, they undergo an extensive vetting process which includes a background check, and fingerprinting. If they are approved, they will receive a badge which enables them to bypass security at courthouses in Travis County—but that process soon may change.
Lawyers are discussing the possibility of county officials revoking the badge and lawyers will have to go through security like any member of the public. Attorneys say this could affect the workflow with lines that already move slowly on days with full court dockets.
Criminal justice attorneys say on any given day, they walk in and out of the county courthouse as many as six times a day. Attorney Matt Shrum said while he understands the level of concern after Judge Kocurek's shooting, he believes it does not make sense to apply more security at courthouse buildings.
"I don’t think the lawyers are who we need to be worried about. I understand the heightened sense of worry after Judge Kocurek's shooting but that didn't happen at the courthouse and it wasn't a lawyer who perpetrated that,” said Shrum.
When Time Warner Cable News reached out to the Commissioners Court earlier on Tuesday, we were told no such proposal has been drafted at this time.