ANDREWS, Texas — Andrews County Commissioners' Court recently approved renovations to the courthouse building at the meeting held this past Monday.
The renovations are being made after authorities say intoxicated people have been entering the building and causing workers to become nervous due to their drunken antics.
The most recent incident came a short while ago, when officers arrested a drunk individual and charged them with public intoxication.
According to Andrews County Sheriff Charles Stewart, this arrest was the catalyst to kicking off renovations for the building, which was originally made in the 1930's.
“It brought to light other instances in the last six months. We had two others that went into the courthouse, going into offices and just acting real weird," Stewart said "It was really bothering the ladies, so it brought to light that what we needed was to upgrade the security in the courthouse.”
Some non-security improvements will also be made, such as handicap rails and lift seats for the disabled.
Meanwhile, extra courthouse deputies will be placed inside the building alongside extra security measures.
“We will have a security checkpoint, we will have metal detectors, we’ll have it to where everybody comes through there. There won’t be any guns allowed in the courthouse and no knives allowed," Stewart said. "Just like a typical courthouse around this area now. We’ll have lockers for where if they accidentally bring a pocket knife in, they can put them in a locker before they enter the building."
Andrews County Commissioner's Court have already got the ball rolling on new security measures.
While the funding was approved at the last meeting, renovations were on the table for nearly a month. The public intoxication arrest spurred a fast track.
“The first time it was passed, it was about a month ago in commissioner’s court and it was after that last instance we had," Stewart said. "The court realized and saw the need for it, so we decided then that we would upgrade it and get everything going on it."
Andrews County is hopeful that the renovations will be completed by summer, but no firm timeline has been given regarding the completions.