Jackson County Commission & Courthouse Security

At the John Carter Brown Library, Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island there is a verse about the lessons of History inscribed on the front outside wall in large block letters, it says "SPEAK TO THE PAST AND IT SHALL TEACH THEE." Unfortunately members of our Jackson County Commission have failed to heed the lessons of history. When history's lessons are not heeded, that are often repeated.

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The County Commission as a public body has lied to the people of Jackson County repeatedly concerning their financial ability to fund Courthouse Security. They have on previous occasions violated ethics and rules of law without being held accountable for their irresponsible actions. The citizens of Jackson County have received what they asked in the public officials they have voted into public office, some repeatedly. There will come a time when poor decision making and repeated flaunting of unethical, illegal and uninformed actions of the Jackson County Commission will result in costs to the people of Jackson County they can't afford.

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Violating standards of government such as open meetings and records disclosure laws may seem like small, insignificant problems to some, but those small, insignificant problems disclose a larger systemic malady which if not corrected may result in the financial ruination of Jackson County for future generations. This lack luster attention to standards of practice concerning the function of our local county government brings us to this point in our history, NO SECURITY IN OUR COURTHOUSE. A serious issue in this day and time. An issue which 3 elected officials on the Jackson County Commission have failed to heed the lessons of their history. These 3 Commissioners place not the lessons of history into their decision making process, they place their own personal values of ignorance and a lack of leadership into the decision making process of our county government.

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To live in historical ignorance is folly, our times require constant vigilance to insure the protection of citizens within our government's buildings and institutions. The most important vigilant assurances come from citizens. Citizens who are informed concerning issues, citizens who vote in an educated informed fashion, citizens who know their elected officials. There is nothing concerning the security situation at the Jackson County Courthouse that is surprising to me. I have been following the Jackson County Commission intently for the past 16 years. The sum of the decision making process of the local County Commission's leadership reflects the history of the Jackson County Commission, deceitful, lackluster, backwards, non-responsive, non-accountable, ignorant, lawless, unethical, irresponsible and now just plain stupid actions on several issues of vital importance. An uninformed citizenry has received their choice.

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Local news coverage links of the events concerning Courthouse Security: http://thedailysentinel.com/story.lasso?ewcd=53e05a80e1c066ad other Courthouse Security issues from the Daily Sentinel: http://thedailysentinel.com/search.lasso?source_form=&all_of=Security&from_date=2009-05-11&to_date=2009-06-10&show=10&skip=0&nb_b64=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5uZXdzbGlicmFyeS5jb20vbmxzZWFyY2guYXNwP3JlZ2lvbj1nZG5iJnNvcnRfbW9kZT1kJTNBaCZhY3Rpb249c2VhcmNoJmRicXVlcnk9KCU1Q1NlY3VyaXR5KSUyMA==&nb_hits=0

WAFF-TV Report: http://www.waff.com/Global/story.asp?S=10498668&nav=0hBE

Huntsville Times: http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/local.ssf?/base/news/1242983757119090.xml&coll=1

http://www.al.com/mobilenews/articles/paper1.ssf?/base/news/1243934136145070.xml&coll=1
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National Sheriffs Association Physical Security Checklist for Courthouses: http://www.ncsconline.org/D_Research/TCPS/Forms/Form_121.pdf

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The U.S. Marshall"s Service reports the following most common weaknesses at county courthouses:
-no screening for weapons;
-public access directly into the judges’ offices; and
-unprotected access to utilities.

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A search on Yahoo for a list of Courthouse Shootings reveals 2,900,000 entries. http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=courthouse+shooting+list&y=Search&fr=yfp-t-501&fr2=sb-top&xargs=0&pstart=1&b=21&xa=W6ig4FUq9xJrEtgkTY7Wkg--,1244719646 Coast to coast and in foreign lands Courthouse shootings occur. The Jackson County Alabama County Commission's failure to insure Courthouse Security is implemented, cancelling the Security Resolution then submitting an uninformed resolution which accomplishes creating more of a problem is nothing short of sheer stupidity. Even after Ms. Debra Parker and her Attorney, who has a civil case pending due to the last shooting at the Jackson County Courthouse, pleaded with the Commission to properly secure the Courthouse, the 3 Commissioners refused to act on the matter properly.