Sheriff, Attorney discuss order on weapons ban

     Sheriff Greg Graver and County Attorney Phil Parsons spoke with the Jones County Supervisors during their July 5 meeting regarding the Iowa Supreme Court’s weapons ban.

     The court approved a Supervisory Order on June 19, 2017 regarding weapons in county courthouses.

     Graver said the order outlines the areas within county courthouses the district judges do not want to see weapons of any kind: clerk’s offices and court-controlled areas. Graver said the hang-up is the public places of the courthouse, such as the Treasurer’s Office.

     “What is the interpretation of a public area?” proposed Graver.

     Parsons said he felt the order didn’t actually declare where weapons can and cannot be seen within a courthouse.

     “It’s more of a guideline,” he said. “Not an order.

     He said holding a person in contempt with the possibility of jail time enforces the order.

     “It prohibits weapons in public areas occupied by the court system,” said Parsons. “But that depends on the word ‘occupied.’”

     Parsons said the court system has no authority over the Board of Supervisors Room, for example. Nor does the court control the County Attorney’s office, the stairways within the courthouse, and the sidewalks surrounding the courthouse.

     In the mean time, both Parsons and Graver said they have yet to be contacted by this area’s district judge, Judge Patrick Grady.

     “I would encourage the chief judge in our district to talk to us to determine what this all means and how it will play out in the Jones County Courthouse,” urged Parsons.

     Graver said he felt the order “was a complete overreach” by the state’s judicial branch. He said the cases outlined in the order for reasons against weapons in court areas do not justify the order at all.

     “Jackson County already had a weapons ban,” he said of the 2014 shooting in the courthouse there.

     Graver is in favor of allowing county employees to carry guys on them while in a work setting.

     “I don’t think order would affect that whatsoever,” he said. “It prohibits the general public; our employees are not the general public.”

     Graver said as long as those employees have a permit to carry a firearm and take part in the provided weapons course, they should be allowed to carry within the courthouse.

     He urged the supervisors to pass a resolution spelling the carrying requirements out for county employees. Parsons agreed.

     He said nothing needs to be done is hast, but rather encouraged the supervisors to wait until they hear from Judge Grady.

     “The court does not control the Jones County Courthouse,” he said. “It’s elected officials and the public.”