New courthouse audio at security checkpoint caught attorneys by surprise
For nearly two weeks last month, new audio recorders installed at a Knoxville, Tennessee, courthouse and a nearby city county building were capturing conversations near the entrance.
The recordings were lega,l and entrance stickers warned visitors that their conversations might be recorded, Knox County officials said. Nonetheless, attorneys and others expecting private conversations who found out about the equipment after the fact were not happy, WVLT reports.
The audio recorders, intended to allow officials to monitor complaints about security checks at the buildings, have since been removed.
Attorney Terry Adams is one of those who found out about the recordings after the fact and wonders why more of an effort wasn’t made to notify the legal community in advance.
“When we walk in a lot of times at that main entrance, a lot of people have private serious conversations about their case,” he told the station. “Things they wouldn’t want to be recorded.”
The Knoxville News Sentinel (sub. req.) also has a story.
