Whether there is a new jail bond issue or not, The Reno County Commission wants voters to know that improved security is coming to the courthouse.

Long time worries that courthouse visitors could slip contraband to prisoners being escorted to courtrooms or that a distraught relative of a crime victim might try take justice into his own hands have led county officials, from Sheriff Randy Henderson to the commissioners and the jail study committee, to conclude that security needs to be tightened. Tat means closing all but one public entrance, which would be monitored with security personnel, metal detectors and scanners.

A Letter went out to committee members from Commissioner Dan Deming letting committee members and the public know that the security measures are coming. And with that, the recognition that security would leave people waiting to get through the metal detector before they could pay their taxes or renew their vehicle registration. That has also lead to the proposed jail project to expand to include renovation of the Jail Annex so that normal county offices could move there.

Henderson has been trying for several years to improve security at the court house and the latest jail proposal may include just that. While the proposed jail could cost around 25 million dollars adding security at the court house and moving the county departments over to the annex could hike the price tax to more than 28-million dollars.