Carbon County is working to increase the safety of the courthouse and courthouse annex.

On Thursday, the commissioners voted to approve two applications for partial use of the 2016-2017 Pennsylvania Counties Risk Pool Loss Prevention grant.The money was used for two items, including a glass enclosure at the front desk of the commissioners office at a cost of $3,175 and to help pay the balance of the cost for a new X-ray machine and walk-through metal detector at the courthouse. Both items have already been installed in the courthouse and courthouse annex.The shatter-resistant glass enclosure, Commissioners' Chairman Wayne Nothstein said, will provide a layer of security that allows the people working in the office to interact with people coming into the office, while having a barrier between the two.Previously, the courthouse annex had minimal security in place.Carbon County Sheriff Tony Harvilla said that the new X-ray machine and walk-through metal detector are part of a $21,000 grant. Carbon County used $5,545 fromanother grant to help with the purchase.Harvilla said the topic of security at the two buildings arose last November after he was elected sheriff and through his contacts with the U.S. Marshal's office, he was able to have a deputy marshal do a visual inspection of the areas of concern in early May and is currently waiting on the final report."It will work on two levels," he said. "In the main courthouse, the equipment is more sophisticated and will detect more security issues."Looking at the entrance to the courthouse, visitors will probably not even notice a change in the equipment, but Harvilla outlined that it will provide additional detection for the area.The units that were in the courthouse, Harvilla added, will be moved to the annex and installed at the main entrance to the building.There will also be renovations completed on the first floor to secure the building, including building a restricted access area that visitors will go through before meeting with a security guard and going through the metal detector.Commissioner Thomas J. Gerhard said that the county has been working to beef up security, adding a keypad accessed door to the third floor entrance, making a secondary first floor access door only able to open from the inside and looking at the renovations needed for the first floor.Once everything is done, Gerhard said the building will be "totally secured."Harvilla said there are already some logistics in place such as wiring but before the final renovations to the annex can proceed, the county would like to review the final report from the U.S. Marshall's office.In other security matters, the county approved the State Homeland Security Grant program agreement with the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency and Northeast Pennsylvania Regional Counter Terrorism Task Force. The agreement, for $1,039,348, will be used for equipment, training and other necessities relating to counterterrorism. The money is used by the task force, which is comprised of Carbon, Lackawanna, Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton, Pike, Susquehanna and Wayne counties.