Supervisors in Prince Edward have agreed to contract with Major Security Consulting and Design to address safety security concerns with the county’s courthouse.

Supervisors took action on a proposal from the firm at their Tuesday meeting. The contracted services will cost $5,500, according to County Administrator Wade Bartlett.

According to Bartlett, on March 8 Sheriff Wesley Reed, Circuit Court Judge Kim White, Commonwealth’s Attorney Megan Clark, a representative from the health department and Barlett met regarding security at the courthouse complex on Main Street.

“We’ve been talking about this for a long time,” Bartlett said. “There’s no doubt that our security probably is not up to standards in the state. What was discussed (were) various items, but Judge White and I believe all the members at that were in agreement, that what we should do is contract with a security consultant.”

Bartlett said he contacted Michael Jones, the president of Major Security Consulting and Design, to see if he was interested in contracting with the county.

According to Bartlett, Jones has worked with county leaders in the design of courthouses on Charlotte and Halifax.

Jones formerly served as major of the Capitol Police Department in Richmond.

“He wrote the Virginia Security Judicial Initiative for the (Virginia) Supreme Court at the request of the Supreme Court, which started this security issue throughout the state,” Bartlett said.

“We have savings in our building department that we could pay for that without impacting the budget … We’ve got a lot of challenges here with both the health department and social services, among others, in here. And, of course the layout of our building,” Bartlett said.

According to the firm’s website, services provided include risk, threat and vulnerability assessments, Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) surveys, major analyses, construction administration, security policy review and development and security training.