Mississippi County has received a $15,000 courtroom security grant for the Osceola courthouse, according to Wayne Reynolds of the Office of Emergency Services.
During Tuesday night’s meeting, Reynolds told the Mississippi County Quorum Court that he has received the check, which will potentially fund part of the upgrades to the camera system at the Osceola courthouse.
He noted the total cost of the project is $39,210 and he will ask justices to appropriate the rest of the money.
One option could be using funds from the court automation fund, a move that would have to be approved by judges.
Reynolds called the courthouse security system “seriously dated.”
“It is going to be a huge improvement on the camera system,” he said. “We’re going to have seven additional cameras that are higher resolution. We are going to have more memory, so that we can keep the records longer and they can be gone back and looked at easier. In addition, the Osceola Police Department and the Sheriff’s Department will have remote access so that they can look at the cameras at any time. Currently, they can’t. The only place you can see what’s going on with the cameras is in my office.”
Currently, the Osceola courthouse has 16 cameras.
“This additional seven will help get rid of almost all of the dead spots that are in the building,” Reynolds said.
Some of the additional cameras will be placed in the courtroom, Mississippi County Collector’s Office and Mississippi County Assessors Office.
“We will have much, much better coverage,” Reynolds said.