KCMBA security passes reinstated at Jackson County Circuit Court

The Jackson County Circuit Court has reinstated — on a temporary basis  — the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association’s security pass program.

At the court’s monthly meeting Dec. 12, Presiding Judge David M. Byrn said attorneys may start to use their pass cards to bypass the security checkpoint in the week of Dec. 16.

Byrn said attorneys may experience random screenings. If a cardholder is found to be in possession of a weapon during a screening, the weapon will be confiscated and the cardholder will be subject to arrest and prosecution, he said.

The judge said the program will be reinstated at least through February.

The pass program had been suspended since September. The court said the suspension was part of a court security overhaul and was not aimed at lawyers.

The decision followed an Aug. 8 incident in which Blade Moore, an attorney who is not a KCMBA member, was cited for allegedly bringing a firearm into the downtown courthouse. His case is pending in the Jackson County Municipal Court.

RELATED: Jackson County lawyer courthouse security passes scrutinized