"People don't have money sometimes," says Douglas. "They don't understand, they get angry, and they're frustrated. You don't know who's going to walk in that door and what they're going to have."
After last week's incident, county commissioners asked Sheriff Henderson how much it would cost to hire new deputies to man a metal detector.
Sheriff Henderson said it will cost $400,000 to hire six new deputies. They would man one metal detector and provide extra security, but Henderson says more moves are needed to secure the five-story courthouse.
Commissioners are in a difficult position due to already strained budgets. Previous commissions have declined renovation plans for the courthouse citing massive costs.
"We know security is vital and very important, but still, we have to look at the budget side of it as well," says Reno County Commissioner Frances Garcia.
Commissioners didn't take any action Tuesday morning.
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INCIDENTS AT THE RENO COUNTY COURTHOUSE
1975: Man takes a Reno County Jailer hostage at the back door of the jail. The suspect then took the jailer through the front door and demanded an inmate be released. Sheriff's deputies tackled the man in the law enforcement complex lobby and disarmed him.
1987: J.D. Jennings attempts to enter the courthouse with two pipe bombs, which law enforcement believe he wanted to use to kill a judge. A tip helped officers keep Jennings out of the building, and he was killed by a sniper after several hours of negotiations. Jennings had been in a Reno County courtroom a month earlier with a pistol.
1987: An attorney is taken hostage on the second floor of the courthouse by her client. The suspect had a knife. The woman was released unharmed after negotiations with the suspect.
2004: Man pulls his car up to the front doors of the law enforcement center saying he had a bomb inside a bag he was carrying. The suspect took a woman hostage. Officers realized the suspect couldn't have a bomb because he was tossing the bag from hand to hand and had no detonation device. Officers tackled the man and arrested him. After an interview, law enforcement believed the man was attempting a suicide-by-cop plot.
2006: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security releases its report on the Reno County Courthouse complex. "It basically slaps us in the face for our security, or lack thereof," says Sheriff Henderson.
2009: Hutchinson attorney Sam Kepfield uses a fake grenade as a prop during closing arguments of a trial at the courthouse.
