Budget battle in Portsmouth could leave courthouse security in the air

PORTSMOUTH

Deputies will continue to secure courtrooms, but Sheriff Bill Watson says that as of next year his deputies won’t staff the walk-through metal detectors at city courthouse entrances. 

Instead, he’s leaving the work to the city.

“Jan. 4, they better have some security,” Watson said, “or people will walk through that courthouse like it was Central Park.”

He’s  dropping the task because   state cuts in his  budget  are forcing him to lay off 11 employees by the end of the year, he said. The city agreed recently to cover $190,000, or half of the $380,000 the state trimmed from his planned spending.

“I have to cut positions somewhere,” he said. “The freebie is over.”

Deputies or civilian employees of sheriff’s departments guard the entrances of courthouses in all other South Hampton Roads cities.

Watson said he plans to make another pitch for more city funding at Tuesday’s  City Council meeting.

Chief Judge Johnny E. Morris on said the city’s  Circuit Court judges will discuss the sheriff’s plans Wednesday. “And we’ll deal with it, and decide who’s supposed to do what,” Morrison said. “The statute is very clear.”

State law says that sheriffs – elected officers established in the Virginia Constitution – “shall ensure that the courthouses and courtrooms” in their jurisdictions be made “secure from violence and disruption and shall designate deputies for this purpose.”

The law also states that sheriffs must provide officers to courts in session “as the respective judges may require.”

Virginia’s Compensation Board, which establishes minimum staffing and pay standards for sheriffs, mentions “security in local courthouses” under the duty section of its Policy & Procedure Manual for sheriffs. The Virginia Sheriffs’ Association’s Web site lists “court security” as a standard duty.

Watson says state law  requires him only to operate a jail, serve legal papers  and provide security inside courtrooms.

The other South Hampton Roads cities use combinations of deputies and civilians hired, trained and paid by their sheriff’s offices to operate the X-ray scanners and metal detectors inside courthouses.

The Compensation Board   establishes staffing and compensation standards only for deputies in criminal courtrooms, not civil or juvenile ones, acknowledging that its standards don’t reflect all  the duties performed by sheriffs.

“The bottom line is … that the sheriff is responsible. Period,” Norfolk Sheriff Bob McCabe said.

The General Assembly passed laws in 2002 and 2007  that together allowed localities to tack on to court costs a fee of up to $10 to help cover courthouse security expenses. Norfolk and Portsmouth charge the full $10, according to their circuit court clerks’ offices.

Watson long has complained about his department’s share of city funding, which supplements what he gets from the state as a constitutional officer. He  also has criticized other city spending, such as hiring consultants to advise Portsmouth leaders on financial issues.

For weeks last January, he  kept his inmate work crews off city tasks such as collecting trash and washing city vehicles to protest not getting more city money to raise his deputies’ pay. Watson normally provides the inmates’ work for free.

Watson also said that in the new year he will close down his division that writes traffic tickets, transferring those four deputies to other duties.

Dana Woodson, a city spokeswoman, said Kenneth Chandler, the city manager, is determining the  effect of Watson’s new threat and who should be responsible for securing courthouse entrances.

Matthew Bowers, (757) 222-3893, matthew.bowers@pilotonline.com