Cell phones no longer banned from Avoyelles Parish courthouse

Visitors to the Avoyelles Parish Courthouse are no longer barred from bringing their cell phones into the building.

However, if it rings during court you will still be fined. Oh, and you will still not be able to photograph documents in the Clerk of Court’s office to avoid paying the costs for copies.

“We are a public office and we want to accommodate the public’s needs in any way we can,” Clerk of Court Connie Desselle said. “This change allows them to call their office while they are in the courthouse or check their emails.

“They (cell phones) are still not allowed in the courtrooms and we ask that they not be used to take photos of documents in the clerk’s office,” she added.

Out of all of the changes at the courthouse -- most of which were enacted for security reasons -- it was the strict “no cell phones allowed” policy that provoked the most complaints.

People adjusted to having only one entrance to the 91-year-old courthouse. That entrance is in the back of the courthouse, in the “sally port” that was formerly used primarily to hustle inmates in and out of the courthouse for their trial appearances.

Having to pass through a metal detector or possibly be individually searched with a metal detecting wand soon became old hat for frequent users of the courthouse.

But being separated from their cell phones, for even an hour or so, was a hardship many could barely endure -- and they vented their distress liberally on social media sites.

District Attorney Charles Riddle said the policy has been welcomed.

“Cell phones can be in the courtroom, but they must be off and out of sight,” Riddle said. “We had one seized today when a jury was coming in with a verdict.”

District Judge Billy Bennett said the cell phone ban “was never a rule imposed by the judges. Our only rule on cell phones was that they must be off and not seen if they are in court.”

The ban from the courthouse imposed by another department actually caused the court as many problems as it did visitors.

“I can’t count the number of times we had to send someone back to their car for their cell phone because it contained evidence for a trial,” Bennett said. “We would have to call back down to the security desk and tell him to let them in with their cell phone because it was needed in court.”

Bennett said people would get mad at the judges when they were told they couldn’t bring the cell phone into the courthouse.

“We got the blame,” Bennett said, “but it wasn’t our rule.”