Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect proper attribution to a quote from Paul Koeper.

Termites are leading the way to tighter security at the Cape Girardeau County Courthouse.

The wooden floor of the lower level courtroom in the century-plus-old building became a feast for the pests last year.

There was talk of bringing in an exterminator to "send the critters to rest," as Commissioner Paul Koeper put it, but the damage was done.

"We noticed it last June or July, that there were some bad places" in the floor, Koeper said. "A month later, it had grown, and we knew we would have to tear it up."

Crews are removing the floor, the only wood-based floor in the courthouse, and replacing it with concrete. The project is expected to be completed and the courtroom back to business by next week, Koeper said.

The project will cost about $15,000, according to Koeper, but it also will set the stage for upgrades he believes are more important in the long run. It appears the termites and the destruction they caused are opening the door to the enhanced security plan that Koeper has been calling for.

While crews work on the floor, they also are setting up the lower level entry to eventually tighten security.

The ground entrance, according to the upgrade plan, will be modified to make it more handicapped-accessible but less accessible to the public overall. An officer will someday be positioned at the entrance, and all who pass through the checkpoint will go through a metal detector and screening devices.

When the old federal courthouse in Cape Girardeau closed, the county picked up the building's old conveyor screening system and security wands for free.

"We took them and cobbled them and put them in storage, and they are ready to be used," Koeper said.

Tightened courthouse security also would include security cameras at entry points. Koeper said public entrances would be limited to one or two points. Part of the plan involves replacing doors, and the focus is on making the courthouse more energy efficient, he said.

Koeper estimated the cost of the project, including the floor replacement, at about $50,000. He said he's hopeful it will be completed by the end of the year.

While some in county government have said the courthouse doesn't pose significant safety concerns, Koeper disagrees.

"I wanted more protection for the people who work in the courthouse," he said. "You've got citizens walking in, juries, attorneys, defendants. Let's face it, you've got people who come to court because they've done something wrong, and sometimes they don't like each other. Things become a little disoriented."

In May, when murder suspect Ryan Patterson appeared at a motion hearing, deputies used a mobile metal detector. They made family members of the victims and the suspect empty their pockets and pass through the scanner.

Koeper points to high-profile cases of violence in public buildings, like the 2008 shooting rampage in the St. Louis suburb of Kirkwood, Mo., where a gunman walked into a city council meeting and killed six people.

He said the security upgrades will be a gradual process to make the courthouse a "little more security-minded."

mkittle@semissourian.com

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