Darlington County Council members want to renovate the Darlington County Courthouse by increasing security and bringing more space.
Built in 1964, the courthouse is starting to show its age inside and outside. Councilman Robert Kilgo said the most important projects include separating the inmates from the public.
“Courthouse security is more and more important. We have had escapes from this building. Both from the fifth floor and from the lobby, and from taking the inmates out to the lobby to the van. In all of those three incidents, they probably could have been prevented by a different system,” Kilgo said.
One way council members think they could prevent trouble from inmates is by adding a separate elevator for judges to come up from the fourth to the fifth floor without needing to walk by inmates.
Clerk of Court Scott Suggs said the idea is a tough one due to the lack of space in the building.
After the escape incidents, Suggs said police officers now prevent inmates from getting close to the public completely.
“They don’t let anybody come in contact with them anymore. There’s a distance kept the whole time. If they want to see them, they’ll have to see them at jail during visiting hours. Not up here,” he said.
Council members also plan to increase space for family courts. So far, work is underway to clear the law library for additional space. According to Suggs, the books were no longer being used that often.
“These books go back a long way to when originally this was the only way that attorneys could research older cases to file with courts. They would come and use these books for research and now with everything being online, this is just kind of an outdated use of space.”
Although none of the ideas are set in stone yet, Kilgo said he expects renovations to start in the next six months.