Sheriff: No Known Threat to Stearns County Courthouse

ST. CLOUD -- The Stearns County Sheriff says there has been no information on a credible threat here related to the upcoming Presidential election on January 20th.

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Steve Soyka says local agencies across the state did receive a letter from the Department of Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington about that possibility, and they are taking it seriously.

We're taking some precautions based on it, which includes notifying staff that this is going on and to be vigilant of suspicious activity or persons around the courthouse or county buildings.

Soyka says it is the Sheriff's Office's responsibility to secure all county property, including in downtown St. Cloud. But, he says they would get plenty of assistance from surrounding agencies if needed.

Meanwhile, they want everyone who is in the area of the courthouse to be aware of their surroundings.

We've asked the staff and employees, and of course, we'd ask the general public, if you're coming downtown to the facilities for any reason, if you see something that just doesn't seem right let us know.

Soyka says over the past years several measures have been taken to beef up security at the courthouse facilities including adding metal detectors and x-ray scanners as well as limiting the number of entrances used.