UPDATE: City scrubs incorrect information on courthouse lockers from website

She knew she couldn’t bring her cellphone into the courthouse, she said, so she checked the city’s website to see if the building had lockers for storing electronic devices, which are not permitted inside Richmond’s district and circuit courthouses.

The John Marshall Courts Building is home to the bulk of Richmond’s judicial branch, hosting trials, hearings and records for many of the city’s civil and criminal cases. According to its webpage as recently as Thursday afternoon, the “courthouse has a bank of lockers where you can safely lock your phone until you leave the courthouse.”

It turns out, those lockers are not available.

That language was removed from the webpage after the Richmond Times-Dispatch published the first edition of this report on Thursday morning. But for Pentecost, that was too late. She had already tried to bring her phone into the building on Tuesday morning.

“Security said they don’t have the lockers anymore, and (that) I should put my stuff in the car,” said Pentecost, 30, of Richmond.

The problem? Pentecost has a broken foot and has been advised to avoid driving. So, like many other Richmond residents, Pentecost took the bus, carrying her personal phone, her work phone and wearing a smartwatch.

Luckily, Pentecost’s partner works a block away from the courthouse on Ninth Street and was able to meet up with her and take her devices, she said. But others are not so fortunate.

“I’ve had friends hide things in the bushes (outside),” Pentecost told the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Jordan McElhinney, 30, of Richmond, is one such person.

McElhinney currently is not able to drive, so he used his phone to book an Uber to a recent mandatory hearing, he said. But when he tried to go through the security checkpoint, he was told he had to leave the phone outside.

“I ended up having to hide my phone deep inside of a bush,” McElhinney said. “Luckily, my phone was still there when I came back out. But you’re trying to hide expensive pieces of personal property in ... a busy place in front of (lots) of people.”

Asked about the lockers and the website, a courthouse clerk referred The Times-Dispatch to the Richmond Sheriff’s Office. A spokesperson for the sheriff confirmed that the lockers, which used to be in service, are no longer available, but referred questions about the website to City Hall.

A city spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

To Pentecost, the problem is twofold: The website mislead Richmond residents who rely on the city for accurate information, and the lack of lockers exhibits thoughtlessness toward people who may be disenfranchised.

“People use (the website) as a resource when preparing for court,” Pentecost said. “And ... think about all the people ... that arrive to court (through) other modes of transport.”

That includes people like her, who have temporary or permanent disabilities, she said. It also includes people who cannot afford a car or who simply prefer not to drive.

“There’s an expectation that people are supposed to not have their phones if they don’t drive,” she said, and that expectation places an added burden on people who may already be struggling.

Dale Reed, a senior housing attorney with Central Virginia Legal Aid, routinely sees people turned away from the John Marshall Courts Building for having phones.

“It happens ... every day.” Reed said. “People get all the way up to the door with their cellphones, (and) are told to put (them) in the car. But they didn’t take one.”

Reed said this substantially raises the risk of missed court appearances as people scramble to find an alternate location for their valuable electronics.

The Times-Dispatch previously reported that a 2018 policy change allowed people arriving at the courthouse to check in their electronic devices at the security desk at the entrance to the building. However, Pentecost said she was not offered that option.

It is not clear whether that policy is still in effect. Richmond Sheriff Antoinette Irving could not be reached for comment.

A 2021 evaluation by the Commonwealth of Virginia Department of General Services Division of Engineering and Building found that the courthouse is not compliant with state code. The city has discussed plans to demolish the building and construct a new courthouse at the site, consolidating the city’s court complexes.