Can metal detectors be put into Magisterial District Courts?

I think the answer is maybe.

Kathleen Brady Shea’s article in the Inquirer brought security in our Magisterial District Courts to my attention again.

Chester County woman held for trial in domestic standoff

I’ve sat in Magisterial District Courts and saw people that I know have a permit to carry a weapon and wondered if they had the weapon on their person in court.

Magisterial District Courts are usually the first place that people are brought to after an incident of some kind and I believe the potential for violence is high.

I don’t know of a Magisterial Court in Chester County that has a metal detector such as the Justice Center has. I think that gap in security makes Magisterial District Courts a dangerous place. If the Magisterial District Courts were under the supervision of Chester County it might be relatively easy to install metal detectors. But the Magisterial District Courts in Chester County are under the supervision of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. However the President Judge of Common Pleas Court can administer some of the operations of Magisterial District Courts and might be able to order the placement of metal detectors in Magisterial District Courts. But requiring the State Constables that serve as Magisterial District Court security to operate the metal detectors is an altogether different situation. 

Higher security in Magisterial District Courts in the form of metal detectors might be feasible under existing law but it might take legislative action to make it happen,