You may notice some extra security measures put in place at Minot’s City Hall.
Those include the installation of key fobs all around the building and glass partitions to protect front-desk staff.
These changes come as there were more than 10 incidents of people being forcibly removed from the building since last year.
Council members voted earlier this year to approve the purchase of security equipment. The city’s public information officer says the changes do not impact public access.
“This doesn’t prohibit anyone from coming into city hall, it doesn’t prohibit anyone coming to city council meetings, it doesn’t change any of the public access. What is does is give us some assurances for our employees, because unfortunately, nowadays, if you don’t have those assurances for your protection of your place of business, sometimes it’s going to be too late for you to go and get it when you need it the most,” said Derek Hackett, Minot’s Public Information Officer.
Hackett says the price tag for the upgrades is about $50,000.
