Linn County Sheriff James Akes reported to the county commission on Monday that the Linn County Justice Center's courtroom and jury room had issues with sound. (Journal file photo)
By Charlene Sims, info@linncountyjournal.com
MOUND CITY – Lack of sound insulation between the jury room and the courtroom in the recently completed Linn County Justice Center allows people seat in the courtroom to hear jury deliberations. The judge can also be heard by the jury.
That was the report Linn County Sheriff James Akes gave the Linn County Commission on Monday, Feb. 3. He said that there definitely was a problem.
Akes said that the main issue was the cheap plastic ceiling tiles that were not absorbing the sound. The other issue was that there was nothing on the walls to absorb the sound.
He said he believed that the issue could be resolved by putting sound-absorbing ceiling tiles in the jury room, a sound deadening insulation that goes in above the ceiling tiles and acoustic materials on the walls. He also suggested installing carpet-friendly sweeps on the bottom of the doors. He thought this could be done at a low price, about $2,200, to the county with his staff and public works doing the work.
Akes said that if this did not solve the problem 100%, most likely the ceiling tiles in the courtroom would need to be replaced also.
Hightower said that a company that was just going to do the sound testing had bid $4,900 to just do the study.
Akes said that he would be meeting with Amy Harth, chief judge for the 6th Judicial District, on Wednesday to get her approval for the project.
Akes also updated the commission on the drowning incident that happened last week, to go over a proposal by Enterprise leasing and to discuss the acoustics in the jury room and court.
Akes read from the press release about the two boys drowning at Lake Chaparral when they fell through the ice. (Click on this link for the related story.)
“Every county around us reached out asking if we needed anything. They told us they were there for us,” said Akes. “Other counties’ dispatch units reached out and asked if we needed coverage. It was just unbelievable the outpouring of support that we had surrounding our county. It was pretty unbelievable.”
Next, Akes briefly talked about his meeting with Enterprise about leasing cars for the county. He stated that his biggest concern about leasing was to have everything out on the table, no surprises and no surcharges.
Commissioner Jason Hightower, who also attended the Zoom meeting, said the Enterprise sales person was pushing for adding public works vehicles to the contract, which would have allowed for larger discounts.
Akes said that if Public Works Director Shaun West will get the vehicle identification numbers (VIN) and mileage from the public works vehicles, they can have the information ready at the workshop.
Akes said that the workshop with the Enterprise salesperson would be on Monday, March 3.