Kris Miller
Hiawatha World
One of the topics on the Brown County meeting agenda turned out to be one of the most heated, as there was an argument about whether the current security setup at the Brown County Courthouse needed to be scaled down or left in place.
Chief Judge John Weingart, District Court Judge Laura Johnson-McNish of Doniphan County and Brown County Sheriff John Merchant were present to discuss the courthouse security and why it needed to remain in place. Weingart stated that there was a big push for concealed handguns. To emphasize the need for security at the courthouse, Brown County Attorney Kevin Hill stated an incident where someone brought a weapon to the courthouse; he also told another instance where a person who grew upset in the court–who was from South Los Angeles, CA and also gang-affiliated–engaged in physical violence in the building. He also added that there were threats issued to himself and Merchant, and mentioned these threats to emphasize why security at the courthouse was needed; another past incident that was brought up involved a vehicle being firebombed.
Merchant said that employee protection was important. The sheriff also mentioned that he was verbally attacked for putting security in. Merchant said that he did not like the security system setup, but deemed it necessary and that the system went through the constitutional process to be implemented. Merchant also commented that, “We are not living in the same world 10-15 years ago.” Weingart also spoke up and said that volatile situations in the courtroom happen.
Commissioner William Pollock argued that not everyone who enters courthouse needed to be checked, and said that employees were not checked when walking in. Weingart pointed out that the employees already had security clearance to walk through. Hill also added that if someone was an employee of the courthouse, then that meant they did not have a felony on their record, as not having a felony was a prerequisite of being hired at the courthouse.
Commissioner Lucas Heinen asked if there was a way to ease security, especially to safeguard incoming citizens’ Second Amendment rights and to address citizens’ complaints about getting into the building. Pollock asked what changed in the past 50-100 years to warrant security. Hill said to Pollock that money would not be saved if the security changed. Weingart and Pollock engaged in a tense argument about the security issue, with Weingart accusing Pollock of lecturing him about moral issues unrelated to courthouse security until Heinen spoke up and said he wanted a calmer discussion to “keep the temperature in the room down.” He asked if each courthouse in the area had different courthouse policies. Hill answered that that Brown County’s caseload was higher than the other counties and that it was “volatile,” and that the security at the courthouse had worked since it was enacted.
At the end of the security topic discussion, Heinen made comments about how the discussion went.
“To speak candidly, I wanted to learn. I mean, Bill [Pollock] brought it up during our last meet and I just wanted to learn and you were all gracious enough to come down here,” Heinen said. “Government in my opinion should move fairly slow and should be fairly deliberate. I don’t think the issue is to be put to rest because there is some legitimate public concern.”
Weingart recommended Heinen should come to the courtroom sometime to see what the judges and other personnel deal with. Merchant also brought up how schools have security hardware and covered windows to emphasize the need for security at other places, and also added that both schools and churches were also vulnerable.
Pollock spoke up and said that elected people were responsible for the community and that the courthouse did not always need to have security. Commissioner Richard Lehmkuhl said that he supported the courthouse security and did not want to cause anyone harm; he argued if security was rolled back, the courthouse would be liable for whatever harmful actions took place. Heinen stated that there was not a lot of time for discussion left about security topic and asked Merchant if he could come in to next Monday’s meeting about the subject; Merchant agreed to meet with the commission next Monday.
As of this writing, the security setup consists of a security guard being stationed at the front entrance, with the public being required to go through a metal detector. Courthouse security has been in place since Jan. 1, 2018.
About the landfill construction bids
The commissioners spoke about three bids submitted for landfill construction. Landfill Director Don Pounds and Noxious Weed Director Richard Rodvelt were present during this topic discussion; both requested to review bids before making a decision about which bid to go with. These base bids were for the following construction companies and contractors:
• Manhattan-based BHS for $685,384
• Hiawatha-based Bob Rahe Construction for $178,991.35
• Hiawatha-based BB Brothers Contractor for $206,326.78
All three commissioners passed a motion to allow Pounds and Rodvelt to review the bids before making a decision on who would work on the landfill building structure. Pounds stated that previous landfill directors did not perform any maintenance on the infrastructure in the past. Heinen stated that he wanted a policy to make sure that the landfill infrastructure be maintained in the future.
Other topics of discussion
• In an informational topic discussion, Northeast Kansas Environmental Services (NEKES) reached out to farmers who were using chicken manure in their fields, and that farmers needed to practice caution where the manure was placed. Commissioner Lehmkuhl remarked that the placement would affect the water supply.
• The commissioners and Hill discussed the vetting process for hiring employees for the Road and Bridge Department; it was discussed that Manhattan-based Konza Labs performed drug testing for incoming employees as part of the vetting process.
• The commissioners discussed Galva-based Lloyd Group assisting with auditing the county budget; Heinen commented that policies and procedures were needed regarding auditing the budget, as well as guidelines in other areas.
• All three commissioners voted to change the health incentive reward from a gift card to checks, due to difficulty in acquiring the cards; the switch to checks was recommended by Brown County Clerk Nikki Lee.
