Justice of the Peace offices to receive security upgrade

In a unanimous vote, El Paso County Commissioners approved spending nearly 400-thousand dollars on higher security for all Justice of the Peace Offices around the County.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security independently inspected eight Justice of the Peace Offices. The reason was to find similar points of security weaknesses among those offices.

El Paso County Judge Veronica Escobar told AB-7 that some of the Justice of the Peace facilities are older, and the newer facilities had some safeguards but certainly the older facilities when they were constructed didn’t have any of them.

A few of the similar security weaknesses included lack of door controls in the main entrance, minimal available panic buttons, and a lack of security staff parking to name a few.

Other security issues among each offices included bullet resistant wall coverings, upgrade transaction windows, and office space.

The amount for the security upgrades will range from 15-thousand dollars to 68-thousand dollars. The total amount — three hundred and ninety nine thousand dollars. The money will come from filing fees from the Justice of the Peace offices.