Security measures will be tighter at the Coles County Courthouse beginning Monday.

A magnetometer, X-ray machines and more security officers are being implemented to increase security at the courthouse.

A magnetometer is a machine that can detect where, if any, metal is on a person who enters the courthouse.

Two full-time and three part-time security officers are being added. The Coles County Sheriff’s Office decided at the beginning of the year to step up security at the courthouse.

The new security equipment arrived at the courthouse Friday. This week testing of the magnetometer and the X-ray machines will take place, said former Mattoon Fire Chief Oren Lockhart, who started as the head of courthouse security on Jan. 2.

The Sheriff’s Office had started accepting applications for the new head security position in the middle of December.

The machines, ordered nine or 10 weeks ago, will be up and running next Monday. He said employees in the courthouse are ready for the change. So far, Lockhart adds, no employees have complained about the additional security measures that are being implemented.

However, Scott has had a few Charleston residents upset about the new measures. The goal is to keep weapons out of the courthouse.

“I think we’ll have some problems, but it’ll go fairly smoothly,” Lockhart said, who officially resigned as Mattoon Fire Chief in July.