SAFORD — At a recent meeting, the Graham County Supervisory Board unanimously took action to make the courts safer.
The Board agreed to reclassify two part-time guards to full-time and remove one part-time guard.
Before the move, the courthouse was staffed by four part-time security guards. They are mostly retired law enforcement and corrections officers. With these employees now retiring from their second careers, the county is finding it difficult to attract applicants for part-time positions.
“In 2019, there were 21 applications. We didn’t meet that,” said Cindy Norris-Blake, the county’s director of human resources.
Total county costs, including insurance and retirement benefits, range from $54,000 to $63,000 for a full-time job.
In addition to the reclassification, firearms training has been added and attendance at the state-run Court Guard Training Academy.
County manager Dustin Welker said the reclassification will give judges more flexibility to move guards to specific areas based on their activity on a particular day on the court.
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