RICHMOND, Va — "Troubling" and "significant" are just a few words Richmond's Chief Judge Jacqueline McClenney used to describe the magnitude of security issues at the John Marshall Courthouse.
McClenney appeared before the City Council's public safety committee on Tuesday, about a month after the Richmond Circuit Court judges penned a letter to city leadership expressing frustration with a lack of action to address long-needed upgrades.
"There are hundreds of people that come through the courthouse, hundreds that aren't just employees and certainly aren't judges," she said. “We have an obligation to ensure the safety and security of the public and employees, and we have many safety related infrastructure challenges.”
The judge refrained from pointing fingers at any one city administration, saying the building has needed attention for multiple decades.
“I’m not casting aspersions, but to be clear, this has been ongoing since 1994," she said.
McClenney cited an array of security concerns, many of which were already reported in a 2017 assessment by the Richmond Sheriff's Office and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. CBS 6 highlighted those findings in a previous investigative report.
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It found that the court lacked an intrusion detection system, had gaps in security camera coverage, and had vulnerabilities with entry controls, parking, and bafflers.
Ed Jewett, the clerk of Richmond's circuit court, was also present at Tuesday's meeting and reported there were hardly any electronic doors in the courthouse.
"If there's an emergency in the building, like we've had several times in the last few years, you can't lock the building down," Jewett told council members.
When asked by council members about safety concerns related to the transportation of inmates, Jewett said there's not much separation between public and private spaces within the building, and sometimes, inmates have to be transported through the judge's private corridors.
McClenney added that there's shrinking security officer coverage due to a shortage of deputies in the Richmond Sheriff's Office.
“We have a shortage of sheriff availability, which means a necessary security issue," McClenney said. "It is a from beginning of the day to end of the day matter that we have to be concerned about, for people in the courtroom and for every single member of the public that crosses the threshold."
She said there are also problems with the structure itself, including:
- The roof has surpassed its life expectancy
- HVAC issues cause excessive humidity
- The plumbing leaks almost daily, causing sewage overflow
- Lack of accessibility, creating potential for injury
- The entire exterior is glass, increasing risks from outside emergencies
Officials from the city administration said a conceptual plan was developed in 2021 to make significant upgrades to the courthouse, but outside of making a plan, council members said little actual progress has been made.
Interim Chief Administrative Officer Sabrina Joy-Hogg said that plan was estimated to cost $350 million to implement, and she said the city simply cannot afford that. She said conversations are still ongoing to figure out ways to get the cost estimate down.
Public Safety Committee Chair Councilwoman Reva Trammell, who said in 2019 that fixing security gaps at the courthouse was a "top priority" for her, said she was "not happy" with Tuesday's discussion and felt the needs of the courthouse were ignored for far too long.
In the meantime, McClenney said judges are regularly meeting with a safety committee to discuss quick fixes, but it's not enough.
“How can we keep it together, how can we tape it together from day to day? They do an excellent job of meeting with us monthly and figuring out what's going to happen, but it's not even really a band-aid anymore," McClenney said.
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