The Carmel City Council’s finance committee voted July 6 in favor of hiring a part-time security guard for the recently relocated city court building for when court is not in session.
City Clerk Sue Wolfgang told the committee that bailiffs or officers are in the building on Gradle Drive during court hours but that her staff is “vulnerable” at other times when security isn’t present.
“There have been a few issues since we’ve been over (in the new location) that have caused alarm on one level or another,” Wolfgang said. “People are never happy to be there.”
The security guard position is set to be funded for the remainder of the year by reappropriating $28,000 from the general fund. Wolfgang said she plans to add the position and its pay for a full year to her budget in the future. The guard is expected to be paid $45 an hour and work 23 hours a week on two full and two half-days Tuesdays through Fridays.
Wolfgang said she will look to hire a retired Carmel Police Dept. officer for the job.
The part-time security guard position is not expected to be needed when the city court moves into the expanded CPD headquarters building, which is anticipated in the next few years.
The full city council will have the final vote on the matter, likely at its July 19 meeting.
