The Dallas County Board of Supervisors reaffirmed the Dallas County Courthouse Weapons Policy Statement at its July 21 meeting, with the resolution opposed by Supervisor Kim Chapman, who would prefer to obey the letter of the law and allow guns on the first floor of the courthouse.
According to House File 2502, which took effect July 1, a city could, for instance, declare a gun-free zone in its city hall or library or recreational facility or senior center only if the city also installed metal detectors and hired an armed guard, that is, only “if adequate arrangements are made by the political subdivision to screen persons for firearms or other dangerous weapons and the political subdivision provides armed security personnel inside the building or physical structure where the restriction is to be in effect.”
Iowa House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl (R-Missouri Valley) called House File 2502 a “pro-freedom, pro-liberty” bill when it passed his chamber in February. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed the bill into law June 25.
The new law also applies to Iowa counties, including county courthouses. According to the law, now known as Iowa Code Section 724.32, “A supreme court or judicial branch order that prohibits a person from lawfully carrying, possessing, or transporting a weapon in a county courthouse or other joint-use public facility shall be unenforceable unless the judicial order applies only to a courtroom or a court office, or to a courthouse used only for judicial branch functions.”
By order of the Fifth Judicial District, weapons are prohibited from the courtrooms and court offices in the district, which includes the Dallas County Courthouse. But the courts operate only on the second, third and fourth floors of the courthouse. In the first-floor offices of the Dallas County Treasurer and Dallas County Recorder, it should be open season on the free expression of citizens’ Second Amendment right and liberties, according to the new Iowa law, but the supervisors’ policy bans weapons even from the first floor.
“I struggle with this issue because I’m a big supporter of the Second Amendment,” Chapman said during the July 21 discussion of the courthouse weapons policy.
According to the policy, “Possession of weapons is prohibited in the Dallas County Courthouse beyond the screening checkpoint,” and “no one shall enter the courthouse while in possession of a weapon” except for law enforcement officers. “Any person attempting to enter the courthouse, including those who have a valid, non-professional, concealed weapons permit, shall be required to secure their weapon outside of the courthouse prior to entry.”
The layout of the Dallas County Courthouse, with the security screening checkpoint at the north entrance to the building, would make secondary screening between the first floor and the upper floors difficult in terms of setup and staffing, according to Dallas County Sgt. Tom Peterson, who supervises the courthouse security staff for the Dallas County Sheriff’s office.
“It would be pretty impossible to monitor what goes to the upper floors of the courthouse,” Peterson told the supervisors. “If weapons are allowed on the first floor, we have no way to stop them from going to another floor.”
Peterson said it might also be too confusing for the general population to be told they can exercise their right to bear arms only the first floor.
“What makes me nervous is if you were to allow that, people won’t understand that they can’t go to the second, third or fourth floor,” he said. “At that point, honestly, my thought is we don’t need court security. We don’t need anybody at the front if we’re going to allow them in.”
After discussing the matter, the supervisors satisfied their “desire to publicly reaffirm weapons restrictions within the Dallas County Courthouse” when Supervisor Mark Hanson moved and Supervisor Brad Golightly seconded a resolution to that effect, with Chapman opposing.
