Print edition: 
Over the years, numerous weapons have found their way into the Reno County Courthouse.
In November, a defense attorney pulled out a hand grenade to help demonstrate to jurors what was meant by the term "imminent threat."
The grenade was a dud, but that wasn't known until after the attorney had also pulled the pin and set the grenade on the prosecutor's table.
"We've also shot people off the courthouse steps," Reno County Sheriff Randy Henderson said Friday. "We've had a hostage taken at knifepoint in the courthouse."
And then came Friday morning.
A 29-year-old Hutchinson man involved in a domestic case was arrested for carrying two loaded handguns into a third-floor courtroom.
"The crux of this is you have to stop stuff before it gets in the building," Henderson said. "That's the bottom line."
Under the current security conditions at the 80-year-old courthouse, that's not possible.
Three metal detectors are available only to screen people going onto the third floor for high-profile jury trials, Henderson said.
Otherwise, they stand idle in the attached law enforcement center. Lack of personnel and the fact the courthouse has four entrances prevents the detectors from being used more.
"That's a lot to cover," Henderson said. "You need both male and female officers working them. We don't have the staff."
Appeals to the Reno County Commission to address those problems, including redesigning the courthouse so it would have only one public entrance, have been tripped up because of lack of money, Henderson said.
Attempts in 2005 and 2007 went nowhere.
After the hand grenade incident, the County Commission had brief discussions about improving the courthouse's security, Commissioner Brad Dillon said.
Those talks included bringing in the architect who had previously presented a design for one entrance. Dillon said the commission also has looked at how security is handled at Butler County's new judicial center.
Dillon, an attorney who has been on the commission for about 15 months, said he didn't know what it would cost to make Reno's courthouse more secure.
But money, he agreed, was the stumbling block.
"If it were free," Dillon said, "we'd have done this years ago.
At the same, Dillon said, the issue is "purely a matter of public safety, and the safety for court personnel."
"I'm almost too close to it," he added. "When I heard what happened (Friday morning), I wondered if one of my partners was in that trial."
That wasn't the case, and no one was injured. But the incident stirred up a flurry of activity.
Robert S. Rincon "started getting agitated" during the court proceedings, Henderson said.
Dillon said Rincon was in court on a domestic matter because he had failed to comply with a court order to get anger management training.
Henderson was among six law enforcement officials to respond to District Court Judge Tim Chambers' request for help around 9:15 a.m. After they arrived, Chambers found Rincon in contempt of court and had him arrested.
When two sheriff's deputies took Rincon into custody, they found he had two loaded handguns — one in his coat pocket, the other in a holster on his belt and under his coat.
"So once again we got lucky," Henderson said.
Rincon was charged with one count of contempt of court and two counts of criminal use of a firearm, the sheriff said.
