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The Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court has ordered a review of security at all 67 county courthouses and annexes in the state. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the trigger for the review was the Pulse nightclub shootings.

When Chief Justice Jorge Labarga learned the Orlando mass shooter cased the club before opening fire, his first thought was keeping someone from doing the same thing at a court house.

“You know, all one has to do is come in and check out the courthouse and see where the weaknesses are and then come in and do what they are going to do. That’s what happened in Orlando” says the Chief Justice.

Many judges now have guns at the bench, Most Courthouses are secure, but not so 29 years ago in Port St. Joe when a hateful divorce case turned into murder.

Al Harrison was the Gulf County Sheriff in 1987.

“and two shots were fired over here” he explained to reporters at the time.

Clyde Melvin chased down a wounded judge, shot through a barricaded door and killed the judge after killing two other people.

Security in courthouses is the responsibility of each and every county.

Earlier this month, Liberty County administrators got an earful from Attorney General Pam Bondi. The sheriff was appealing his budget after County commissioners axed money for a second bailiff at the rural courthouse.

“I don’t know how one Bailiff, if you practiced one day a month, could protect one criminal trial, one civil trial, one heated trial with domestic violence” asked Bondi at the August 2nd Cabinet meeting.

The Sheriff got the money for a second baliff. The Chief Justice says its better to be safe than sorry.

“And in today’s climate, anything can happen. And I want to make sure we evaluate each courthouse in this state” says Labarga.

Part of the review will focus on a statewide reporting system for security incidents in courthouses.

Eight judges and two lawyers will conduct the study. County funding practices will also be part of the review.