Airport style security coming to Sudbury Courthouse

CTV News

9 hours ago

The historic Sudbury Courthouse building at 155 Elm St. has been under renovation for almost a year.
When complete, renovations at the Sudbury Courthouse will not only give the Elm Street building a new look, it will usher in an era of much tighter security.
Gone will be the multiple entrances, giving way to a single point of entry where visitors will be screened before they enter in a similar way as passengers are at airports.
The historic building at 155 Elm St. has been under renovation for almost a year. The Ministry of the Attorney General owns the building and in an email to CTV News, said the province is 'investing in vital security and accessibility upgrades at the Sudbury courthouse.'
Sudbury courthouse 2
The renovations will create a single point of entry at the Sudbury courthouse, where visitors will be screened in a process similar to airport security.
(Angela Gemmill)
Work should be complete by Winter 2026, the email said, and include the single point entry 'with full security screening, an accessible front entrance, improved walkways, and accessible parking, all designed to streamline access and strengthen safety.'
Court security for the Elm Street building is provided by Greater Sudbury Police. Insp. Dan Depatie said they are looking forward to the renovations.
'We're really looking forward to that being up and running and being able to help us manage the security within,' Despatie said.
Single point of entry
Although the upgrades are still several months away, Despatie said police are looking at what they will mean for police staffing at the courthouse.
'We're certainly speaking with some of our external stakeholders, police services across the province that are already operating with a single point of entry to get an idea of how they're managing that, as well as the internal stakeholders at the courthouse,' he said.
'Then we take all that and overlay that with our staffing model and our staffing resources and together we outline a plan for moving forward.'
The single point of entry includes scanning equipment similar to what's used at airports, as well as a priority line for staff and other regular users of the courthouse such as lawyers and judges.
'Think about how it is in line at the airport when you're going into the secured area,' Depatie said.
'I think we can imagine it's going to be very much the same thing with members of (Sudbury police) as the lead in getting people from outside to inside the secure area.'
CTV News asked the Ministry of the Attorney General to provide a price tag for the renovations at the courthouse but was only told that the work is fully funded by the provincial government.