At least one federal judge in Chattanooga said he is unaware of measures to make the outside of the federal courthouse on Georgia Avenue more secure for the officials working within.
Changes include the removal Friday of all the newspaper boxes and other receptacles that hold magazines and real estate brochures in front of the courthouse.
A court security officer said Friday that the U.S. General Services Administration also is planning to cut down the trees around the courthouse and install floodlights.
“That’s the first I’ve heard of either of those two things,” U.S. District Judge Harry S. “Sandy” Mattice said Friday.
Judge Mattice is the head of the Court Security Committee for the Eastern District of Tennessee.
A GSA building manager said the changes are for “security reasons.” She did not elaborate.
A GSA supervisor in Knoxville said the changes are a result of recommendations from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He said the GSA is “always concerned” about the security of federal buildings and the officials who work in them.
A member of the U.S. attorney’s office in Chattanooga also said Friday he was unaware of the pending security changes.
“It’s a GSA building and they are responsible (for maintaining it),” First Assistant U.S. attorney Gregg Sullivan said. “They’re the landlords.”