Bucks County Begins Tightening Security At District Courthouses

Bucks County is tightening security at the largely unguarded district courthouses.

Starting this month, the county and its court system began a pilot program putting armed security officers in district courthouses after years of rising anxieties.

The Bucks County Commissioners approved funding for the program, which will first deploy armed security officers to five of the county’s 18 magisterial district courts.

Security officers will use metal detector wands to screen every person entering the facilities and conduct manual searches of all personal items, including bags, backpacks, and briefcases, according to Robert Pollock, the district court administrator for the Bucks County court system.

The first five courthouses for the program are District Judge Kevin Wagner and District Judge Terry Hughes in Bristol Township, District Judge Daniel Baranoski in Penndel Borough, District Judge Corryn Kronnagel in Morrisville Borough, and District Judge Joseph Falcone in Bensalem Township.

The security measures at Falcone’s courthouse started on Monday, July 6.

Court of Common Pleas Judge Raymond McHugh, the president of the county’s bench, worked to select the five district courts to first get security, an official said.

The long-term goal is to station security staff in every district court facility countywide, said Robert Pollock, the district court administrator for the local court system.

District courts are the first tier of the state’s Unified Judicial System. They handle traffic tickets, summary offenses, municipal code violations, landlord-tenant disputes, and civil claims capped at $12,000, alongside preliminary hearings and arraignments for criminal cases.

Due to the number of issues the district courts handle, they are the public’s most common point of contact with the judicial system.

In Bucks County, the system spans 18 district judges, approximately 110 clerks, and thousands of visitors. The courts handle approximately 130,000 cases each year.

“Security in our district courts is self-evidently necessary for the same reasons it is needed in our common pleas courts,” Bucks County Commissioners Chairperson Diane Ellis-Marseglia said. “These facilities are home to sensitive and tense situations day in and day out, and everyone in these buildings – whether visitors, employees, police, lawyers, you name it – they all deserve to be safe and to feel safe. If anything, a program like this one is long overdue.”

Once fully implemented across all 18 district courthouses, the security staffing is projected to cost an estimated $2 million annually, according to county spokesperson James O’Malley.

Some local district judges and court staff have told LevittownNow.com there have been security issues and worries for years.

According to court records and police, there have been threats of shootings and bombings at local district courts, concerning social media posts aimed at personnel, and angry members of the public appearing outside district judges’ homes.

One district judge, who was not authorized to speak on the matter, said last year that security disruptions aren’t just worrying, but they derail court operations. For members of the public attending hearings, the interruptions increase the burden that may already have included taking time off work or setting up childcare to be at the courthouse.

A 2020 report by the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts documented a 30 percent spike in security incidents at district courts statewide between 2017 and 2019.

A statewide district court security taskforce was established and recommended options that included adding armed security, weapons screenings for visitors, and increased use of virtual hearings.

A 2018 district court shooting in Fayette County left four people wounded before police shot and killed the gunman.

In 2019, a defendant attempting to escape a Delaware County district court was killed after grabbing for an officer’s firearm.

More recently, gunfire erupted outside a district courthouse in Fayette County on Monday, July 6. Few additional details on that incident were available.

Pollock, the district court administrator in Bucks County, said security incidents at district courts have served as the impetus for judicial districts across the state to upgrade their safety measures.

To staff the new program, the county is drawing from its armed security force under the Bucks County Department of Emergency Services, officials said.

The security agency is made up of a lieutenant, two sergeants, and 30 security officers who currently protect the Doylestown Borough Administration Building and other county properties.

While the security officers are not police officers or deputies, the personnel undergo law enforcement-style training and many have backgrounds in law enforcement.

Rich Vona, Bucks County’s director of emergency services and law enforcement and safety, is tasked with hiring and supervising armed officers assigned to the district courts, officials said.

The county will need to hire additional officers to get to full coverage, officials said.

In recent years, according to sources inside the county courts and law enforcement, officials debated whether district court safety should be managed by the county’s armed security force, park police, sheriff’s deputies, or local constables.

A district judge, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter, acknowledged some judges have differing views on the appropriate level of security.

The judge noted that some safety upgrades have occurred, including the installation of trauma kits and card-access systems for secure areas.

One staffer at a Lower Bucks County courthouse shared concern that the building’s windows lack shatter-proof glass.

In recent years, court officials have frequently moved high-risk district court hearings to the Justice Center and out of the local district courthouses for better security.

Municipal police, park police, constables, and sheriff’s deputies have also been used to provide as-needed patrol checks and security at district courts due to potential threats.

For the Court of Common Pleas, which is based in the Justice Center in Doylestown Borough, the Bucks County Sheriff’s Office handles security, as prescribed under state law.

Bucks County isn’t alone in increasing district courthouse security.

Stacey Witalec, a spokesperson for the state court system, said 27 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties currently maintain some level of security presence in their district court offices.

In the Philadelphia region, Chester and Delaware counties have partial security coverage, while Montgomery County launched its own pilot program this month using contracted security at several district courts.