County moves forward with electronic courthouse access

     Lisa Mootz, Jones County IT, and Sheriff Greg Graver formerly presented an option to the Jones County Supervisors concerning electronic access to the courthouse.

     During the May 25 board of supervisors meeting, Mootz shared a bid of $25,288 from Radio Communications to install electronic key card access to five doors in the courthouse as well as the elevator. She said the software would allow photo IDs to be printed for county employees. In addition, each key card can be personalized in terms of granting access to various doors and locations throughout the courthouse.

     The courthouse offers one entrance and exit for the public and employees. The west door serves as the entrance; the north door as the exit. Mootz and Graver said it would benefit employees parking in the north parking lot to be able to come and go via the north door. Electronic access would be one way to allow increased access while streamlining public access.

     “We can expand access to other places,” Mootz offered, including those employees who would need access to the boiler room, server room, and elevator, even the third-floor jail.

     Right now, if an employee retires or is terminated, there’s no way to be sure that the employee hasn’t made copies of various courthouse keys. With the card access, Mootz could deactivate a card once that employee no longer works for the county.

     “This offers a lot more security,” she said. “We won’t have to change the locks.”

     “This is not a new conversation,” added Graver. “Department heads have been discussing this; it’s been on our radar, but we pushed it back on the priority list.”

     Within the Sheriff’s Office and Dispatch areas, those employees have been using this type of technology for several years now.

     “My employees don’t have keys,” Graver said.

     Sheriff’s Office employees simply punch in a code to open doors.

     Graver said electronic access allows for ease of access, especially in an emergency where he or someone else may have to search through dozens and dozens of keys.

     “Keys are old school and inefficient,” he added.

     As a department head, Graver said key card access also allows one to track the coming and going of county employees, especially when it comes to restricted areas of the courthouse.

     “We control who has access to what,” Graver explained. “This is in the best interest of the county.”

     Mootz added that they can see where employees have attempted to use their card if an incident occurs rather than watch hours and hours of surveillance video.

     “It’s a good tool for secure areas and security issues,” Graver said. “There are a lot of steps we can take to make the work environment a safer environment. Are we being reactive or proactive?”

     The board of supervisors approved the bid, with the money coming out of the county’s Fiscal Year 2022 budget.

     As the county moves out of the pandemic, Graver warned the board of supervisors that they’ll have some tough decisions to make regarding those coming and going from the courthouse, both employees and the public. He said Iowa Homeland Security suggests the county offer one access point rather than four.

     Treasurer Amy Picray, Recorder Sheri Jones, and Auditor Whitney Hein were all in support of key card access technology.

     “We feel safe with ID cards,” Jones said.

     “It’s a good idea,” said Hein.