Are court guards police?

[leo3an]

Another curiosity question.

I went to a court house quite a few years ago. I was ticketed for littering (I didn't have to pay anything. I was drinking iced water, my teeth hurt and suddenly spited out the ice.. turns out spitting out ice isn't littering). Littering ticket = mandatory court

Anyways, at the courthouse.. I saw a guard/police-type uniformed person who looked like he weighed about 300 pounds, but was about 5'5". Who also wore very thick glasses. Could such person be a police officer?

Does police department transfer you to easier task if you were fit when you joined, but became unfit?

[Creeker]

What you most likely saw was a Bailiff.

In my area, a Bailiff doesn't work at traffic court.

Bailiffs work in our General Sessions courtrooms(Big boy court) to maintain order and to escort and provide Juries with what they need and privacy. They wear suits & ties with a special badge, but they are not LEO of the type you are associating them with. The majority of ours are retired and elderly.

We have Courtroom Security, who work under the Jail and run the metal detectors, etc. as well as Deputies in plain clothes who escort the prisoners and patrol the hallways at our big court.

[Officer20]

Another curiosity question.

I went to a court house quite a few years ago. I was ticketed for littering (I didn't have to pay anything. I was drinking iced water, my teeth hurt and suddenly spited out the ice.. turns out spitting out ice isn't littering). Littering ticket = mandatory court

Anyways, at the courthouse.. I saw a guard/police-type uniformed person who looked like he weighed about 300 pounds, but was about 5'5". Who also wore very thick glasses. Could such person be a police officer?

Does police department transfer you to easier task if you were fit when you joined, but became unfit?

In my county, the deputies are baliffs, so they are LEOs.

In my department, you get disciplined and eventually fired (according to an unused policy) for being physically unfit for duty.

[leo3an]

Thanks, come to think of it. He was pretty old.

[WellAdvised]

Another curiosity question.

I went to a court house quite a few years ago. I was ticketed for littering (I didn't have to pay anything. I was drinking iced water, my teeth hurt and suddenly spited out the ice.. turns out spitting out ice isn't littering). Littering ticket = mandatory court?

Anyways, at the courthouse.. I saw a guard/police-type uniformed person who looked like he weighed about 300 pounds, but was about 5'5". Who also wore very thick glasses. Could such person be a police officer?

Does police department transfer you to easier task if you were fit when you joined, but became unfit?

Lets get this right then. You were in a court drinking iced water, saw a short, fat guy, with thick glasses, in a uniform, and thought you would be disrespectful by spitting out your water and laughing at him. You got in trouble.

[Lawson]

Lets get this right then. You were in a court drinking iced water, saw a short, fat guy, with thick glasses, in a uniform, and thought you would be disrespectful by spitting out your water and laughing at him. You got in trouble.

I think one of us is reading this wrong. I believe the OP was drinking ice water and spit, which lead to a citation being issued, which brought them to court, where they saw the unkempt officer.

Out here in my county, bailiffs are sworn on a limited law enforcement commission. They can enforce the laws within the courthouse and in the area, but have no vested authority outside of the court grounds.

[WellAdvised]

I think one of us is reading this wrong. I believe the OP was drinking ice water and spit, which lead to a citation being issued, which brought them to court, where they saw the unkempt officer.

Out here in my county, bailiffs are sworn on a limited law enforcement commission. They can enforce the laws within the courthouse and in the area, but have no vested authority outside of the court grounds.

That would be me then

Start again then. You were drinking iced water, at an undisclosed location and the iced water hurt your teeth. You spat it out in plain view of a Police Officer, who saw fit to issue you with a ticket for litter (possibly more of a general attitude test violation). You went to court, and were unimpressed by the short, fat person with thick glasses.

And you were found not guilty of littering.

[phantasm]

It depends. Maybe they're police officers, and maybe they're peace officers. Either way, they can write summonses within the scope of their employment, and they have to meet certain requirements to be hired (but not to maintain their jobs).

[scott715us]

In our general sessions courts in Metro Nashville, there is a contracted security company who conducts the screening at the door (non law enforcement); there are contracted armed security throughout the courthouse (non law enforcement), and then there are bailiffs. The bailiffs are professionally dressed and do as what has already been described in the actual courtroom.

Other counties in middle TN have deputies as court officers. They do the same as bailiffs plus provide protection and keep order in the court rooms. These deputies are commissioned police officers.

It all depends on what state, and to an extent, what county you are in.

[leo3an]

That would be me then

Start again then. You were drinking iced water, at an undisclosed location and the iced water hurt your teeth. You spat it out in plain view of a Police Officer, who saw fit to issue you with a ticket for litter (possibly more of a general attitude test violation). You went to court, and were unimpressed by the short, fat person with thick glasses.

And you were found not guilty of littering.

arg.. I knew someone would do this here, haha. Ok, here we go. I was 19 or 20. I went to a dentist and had gotten those metal filling in my teeth. They said "no cold/hot drinks" for 3 days. 3 Days passed by, and in-front of my parents' house, after a long chore from parents... I said "a cold bucket of water with ice would be so good". So I got some, and I literally poured it into my mouth. And WHAM! it hurt like hell, so I involuntarily spat it out some ice onto sidewalk. And a police stopped, gave me a ticket even though I explained. He said explain it in court because it is mandatory that I go to court for littering. So I explained it, and judge said I do not need to pay a fine.

Was I unimpressed by a short,fat, person with glasses? I do not know, I don't think I had any emotions or thoughts. It was a long ago, and I was just curious if unfit people could be police or if court guard looking people were actually police.

It was a simple question. It was not like... looking at a police going "hmm.. wouldn't it be nice to just spit stuff out in front of him and piss him off for absolutely no reason.. maybe it will be fun to get a ticket, since I'm just crazy".

[SoCoDeputy]

As far as your question goes, it really depends on the jusidiction. In my county, since we are a small department we do court security as well as patrol and transports. So you do have sworn LEO's in our courtrooms.

However, we also have uniformed courthouse security officers, both are retired LEO's, who do not have LEO powers. In some areas Like El Paso County, they have county security officers, who are responsible for protecting county buildings and Deputies who take care of transports to the courthouse and courtroom security.

So like I said it depends on the juridiction

[MOCOP]

Depends on where your at. Here all Court Officers/Baliffs are Deputy Sheriffs and report to the Court Services Cmdr a Lieutenant at the SO.

I worked at agency that only provided Courthouse Security/Prisoner Transport the baliffs were hired by the judges and paid by the circuit court. They tended to be retired LEO's.