More security cameras planned at Grant County Courthouse

EPHRATA — Grant County officials will add more cameras at the Grant County Courthouse after a theft from a parking lot.

The parking lots around the courthouse don’t have cameras, said central services director Tom Gaines on Tuesday, but cameras will be added, starting with the parking lot behind the Law and Justice Building where the theft occurred. The Law and Justice Building houses the Grant County Sheriff’s Office and the Grant County Jail.

The courthouse does have a number of cameras recording public spaces around the building. The cameras allow people in the courthouse to know what’s going on in case of a disturbance outside, Gaines said.

But some of the exterior cameras are in need of repair, Gaines said, and cameras are limited on the interior. Some will be added, and others repaired or upgraded, to increase security.

More cameras also are being installed at the Grant County Fairgrounds, after acts of vandalism in early April. “There became a need when people started kicking in doors,” Gaines said. Vandals cut holes in the fence, kicked in the doors of a number of food booths belonging to non-profit agencies, and painted graffiti on buildings. Additional cameras have been installed, and more will be installed, as a result.