Elderly and handicapped access improved at courthouse

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October 23, 2009

By KEVIN YOUNG The Glasgow Daily Times Fri Oct 23, 2009, 12:56 PM CDT

GLASGOW — Visitors to the Barren County Courthouse will soon be able to access the building from the ground floor. Sheriff Chris Eaton announced the change during a Thursday morning press conference at the courthouse.

“This is one of the most user-unfriendly courthouses in the state of Kentucky,” he said.

Now, visitors must climb a curved flight of stairs before entering the courthouse through its main entrance, but beginning Nov. 9 the north side door leading to ground floor of the building will be open to the public.

“People have to come here to get their driver’s licenses and other things, so why make them climb a flight of stairs, down another to the clerk’s office, the back up the stairs to get it,” he said.

A Barren County court security officer will be positioned at the ground floor entrance with a metal detecting wand for incoming visitors. He said visitors will still be able to enter through the main doors at the top of the stairs, but they will have another option after the change. Eaton said this change will bring Barren County’s courthouse more in line with those of surrounding counties.

“Hopefully within the next few months, we will work with Frankfort to get all of our security moved down here to the bottom where it needs to be. But for now you will have two options for getting in,” he said.

Sharon Fields, executive director of the Kentucky Disabilities Coalition, said the change will be an improvement for the county and will bring it in line with the Americans with Disabilities Act standards.

“I think it’s an excellent idea. It would enable persons with disabilities and those with mobility impairments to access the building,” she said. “Lots of things go on in the county clerk’s office, from registration for voting to licensing, so they will have easier access to those services.”

Judge-Executive Davie Greer said she has worked for a long time to gain approval for the changes from the Administrative Office of the Courts, which maintains the building. Pending final approval, Greer said the AOC will pay the necessary costs for the renovation.

“It is really the best thing we can do besides tearing down the whole front of the courthouse. And I’m glad that (Eaton) is doing it,” she said.

Greer said Eaton will utilize his security officers already on staff without needing to hire any more officers to guard the second door. She said the courthouse, the sixth in Barren County’s history, was completed in 1965.

“We’ve got a beautiful courthouse, no doubt about that. It’s just not efficient to go up the stairs,” she said. “People are getting older and it’s awful to see people climbing those stairs just to get inside the building.”

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