Richland County builds fences to keep the homeless out of its courthouse

Richland County is building a 6-foot fence around the downtown courthouse to keep out the homeless.

Made of black metal bars, the fence, which is nearly finished, is the final step in a series of security upgrades requested by Sheriff Leon Lott.

“We started experiencing major issues with homeless people,” Lott said Thursday of those who slept in a breezeway, used exterior electrical outlets and even managed to get inside the courthouse at night. He declined to say how they entered the building.

There also have been a few confrontations with employees, though none was serious, said the sheriff, who is responsible for courthouse security. Judges complained as well, he said.

The homeless were leaving messes in and around the building, Lott said.

“That’s not an area where we can have homeless people camp out and stay,” he said of the building, where the county’s criminal, civil and family court cases are heard.

The sheriff’s department does periodic security reviews of the building, and the recent changes grew out of those reviews as well as the complaints, Lott said.

The black fence encircles the building that takes up about a quarter of the 1700 block of Main Street that abuts City Hall. Finlay Park, a favorite hangout for the city’s homeless population, is across Assembly Street, which is the western perimeter of the courthouse.

Workers on Wednesday were erecting final portions of the fence near the intersection of Assembly and Blanding streets.

Lott said the security crackdown, which began four or five months ago, started by warning the homeless population that they were trespassing. One person was cited for trespassing.

“It only took us two weeks to get the point across,” he said. Homeless adults are staying away from the courthouse now, Lott said.

The fence, built by Guardian Fence Suppliers of S.C., cost $52,367, said county spokeswoman Beverly Harris.

City officials have tried various ways to mitigate the impact of homeless people in the city center. Benches have been removed along Main Street and part of the Vista entertainment district. Police are assigned to patrol the area and shoo away those who become nuisances or aggressively panhandle. Officers, who try to direct the needy to assistance programs, also issue tickets and arrest several hundred yearly.

A push in 2013 to effectively evict the homeless from downtown garnered national media attention and ultimately failed.

This story was originally published December 1, 2017 at 11:34 AM with the headline "Richland County builds fences to keep the homeless out of its courthouse."