Plans to create a public entry into the circuit clerk’s office in the new Lauderdale County Government Center are on hold as the Board of Supervisors decides how to move forward.

Supervisors were alerted to the need for an entryway by election commissioners, who said residents will need to be able to enter the office to vote via absentee ballot. According to the commissioners, placing a table and ballot scanner in the public hallway outside the office will not meet the requirements of a secure election.

In its Aug. 5 meeting, the Board of Supervisors ratified a change order in the amount of $54,891 to install a new door creating public access into the election commission offices in the Government Center, installing a dutch door between the election commission office and circuit clerk, and open a previously secure hallway up to the public.

The plan, however, did not meet with approval from election commissioners who have been asking the board to find them more space to work and store voting equipment.

In a work session Thursday, Jim Smith, of LPK Architects, which designed the Government Center, said work on the change order has been halted as supervisors determine the best way to move forward. Some of the materials for the project have already been ordered, he said, but no work will begin until the board gives permission to move forward.

“They’ve got a lot of the material sitting there, but they’re not going to start until we tell them to start,” he said.

Smith presented the board with conceptual drawings outlining the two plans his office had originally proposed. The one supervisors approved in the change order was option two.

The first option, Smith said, involved cutting a doorway into the wall next to the bulletproof glass where members of the public will interact with circuit clerk staff. The plan would remove a wall separating two storage rooms and create a small hallway opening up into the circuit clerk’s office.

The cost for that plan was quoted in June at $76,109.

“That’s what we drew, and that’s what we originally recommended,” he said.

Suggestions of a third option, cutting through the bulletproof glass and kevlar paneling of the circuit clerk’s service window are not feasible, Smith said. Besides being extremely expensive, cutting into the window presents issues from both security and building code standpoints, he said.

“I’ll tell you right now, that will not work,” he said.

Supervisor Kyle Rutledge, who serves as board president, said he personally prefers the first option LPK presented, however, the board really needs to hear from Circuit Clerk Donna Jill Johnson to get her input on the issue.

While the board deliberates, Board Attorney Lee Thaggard said another factor to keep in mind is the potential carrying of firearms by members of the public. Opening up previously secured areas for public access can also open them up to open and concealed carrying of firearms, he said.

Sheriff Ward Calhoun, who was asked by Rutledge to weigh in as his deputies provide the Government Center’s security, said there has been a significant amount of time and money invested in developing and implementing the building’s security plan. Deviating from that plan creates weak points in the security that might be exploited by someone with bad intentions.

Both the circuit clerk and election commission are continuing to work out of the former Lauderdale County Courthouse on Constitution Avenue while supervisors work to resolve the issue.