LAWTON – Comanche County will install panoramic cameras in stairwell landings at the Comanche County Courthouse and replace an analog camera in the first-floor legal office that is no longer working.
The Comanche County Board of Commissioners voted 3-0 Aug. 1 to approve the project, which will be financed with part of District 2’s share of American Rescue Plan Act money. The project will cost about $24,163, according to an estimate from the Broken Arrow-based company York Electronic Systems.
The new cameras will be added to the courthouse’s existing Genetec Video Surveillance System.
The county did not install cameras in the stairwells when the rest of the courthouse was outfitted, said Commissioner Johnny Owens, who represents District 2.
“In visiting with the sheriff’s department and the sheriff, I think that this is necessary, especially with the way things are going,” he said.
The county received approximately $23 million in federal aid under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which provided financial aid for units of local government coping with the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. The county’s three districts each received $1.3 million in ARPA funds, for a total of $3.9 million.
Funding for the courthouse cameras will come out of the portion of District 2’s ARPA money that was dedicated to offsetting lost revenues.