Bailiffs find strange items on courthouse visitors

SEBRING They were probably two very unassuming 90-year-old women who came into the Highlands County Courthouse and, between them, had four long butcher knives in their purses.
"Why they carried them, I don't know," said Lt. Curtis Ludden with the Highlands County Sheriff's Office's Division of Judicial Services.
The women weren't trying to commit any type of malicious act, according to Ludden. Instead, they simply forgot the knives were in their purse. The courthouse's metal detector quickly reminded them.
Such can be the case for courthouse bailiffs, who saw about 75 instances a month in 2009 of people coming through security with different weapons, Ludden said.
Some of the most common offending items are knives, shears and box cutters.
"They don't think of them as weapons," Ludden said. "Women will come in with different types of scissors in their  purse."
When security finds these weapons, they have the people take them back to their cars before they are allowed into the courthouse.
A trend they've noticed lately is examining wheelchairs and finding knives under the cushions. Ludden said the owners' explanation is they have the sharp objects for protection.
Guns are a different animal for bailiffs. They are the only ones who are allowed to bring firearms into the courthouse, according to Ludden.
Often times, those who have concealed carry permits try to bring their firearms into the courtroom, thinking they are in the right. In fact, Ludden said one stipulation to the permit is that guns are not allowed in courthouses.
For some unknown reason, a person once tried to bring an empty antique firearm into the courthouse, according to Ludden. Like the kitchen knives, it was found in a woman's purse.
Guns are not like knives or scissors - you won't get them back right away.
Ludden said the firearms are confiscated for safe keeping before heading over to the evidence room at the Highlands County Sheriff's Office. The weapons' rightful owners can then go get them later.
It's not always weapons, though, that people try and get past security. Ludden recalled that a year ago, a man was emptying out his pockets and discovered something he probably wished he'd remembered earlier - cocaine.
Since the bailiffs are deputies with the sheriff's office, they have full arrest responsibilities, and the man was taken into custody.
So was the other man who had also forgotten about an illicit substance on his person when trying to enter the courthouse.
"One of the deputies opened a cigarette pouch and the guy had a doobie (marijuana cigarette) in there," Ludden said.
Highlands Today reporter Brad Dickerson can be reached at (863) 386-5838 or bdickerson@highlandstoday.com