Hays County Municipal Building

[alphonso]

As some of you may know, Hays County recently built an enormous municipal building. It houses most/all of the county functions that used to be spread all over in separate facilities. The functions in the new building include the post office and at least some parts of the court.

I was surprised to find that the building is posted and that there were four (4!) armed security officers and a metal detector at the entrance. All weapons (to include "sharp things", a quote from one of the security guys) are prohibited. He told me that they made a special exception for pens and pencils--I am not making this up.

Under what rule/law can the government prohibit handguns and other weapons from this new taxpayer funded building?

Thanks in advance for the help...

[Sangiovese]

Sec. 46.03. PLACES WEAPONS PROHIBITED. (a) A person commits an offense if the person intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly possesses or goes with a firearm, illegal knife, club, or prohibited weapon listed in Section 46.05(a):
(1) on the physical premises of a school or educational institution, any grounds or building on which an activity sponsored by a school or educational institution is being conducted, or a passenger transportation vehicle of a school or educational institution, whether the school or educational institution is public or private, unless pursuant to written regulations or written authorization of the institution;
(2) on the premises of a polling place on the day of an election or while early voting is in progress;
(3) on the premises of any government court or offices utilized by the court, unless pursuant to written regulations or written authorization of the court;
.
.
.

Since you mentioned that the building houses some portions of the court, I think TPC 46.03(3) is what they are using for justification. It says that "premises has the meaning assigned in 46.035, which is ""Premises" means a building or a portion of a building."

To me it seems unreasonable to restrict the entire building if the layout would allow them to move the metal detectors to a different location and still "protect" the court... but just because it is unreasonable doesn't mean they can't do it.

[alphonso]

Sang...

Thank you for the info. I kinda figured that was it (or the post office).

I agree with you that they seem to have "stretched" the law to prohibit in the whole building. It is a huge building which seems vastly overbuilt for my little county, and It pains me to see it with so many armed guards at the entrance.

San Marcos ain't Mayberry any more...

[Keith B]

The problem with combined buildings like these is if it they set up the security area and metal detectors at the main entrance versus just the area where the courts are, it makes it hard to say 'Well the courts are only on the 2nd floor' or 'that is the only portion of the building that is off limits to a CHL'. You can argue all you want, but you won't get past the secure area, and may end up getting detained.

[harrycallahan]

What's the fuss about. We all know that government buildings are the safest on earth.