It appears La Salle County employees will be issued identification badges to wear during work hours.

Members of the Courthouse and Jail Committee opted to move forward with the ID badges, which will be created in-house through the Emergency Management Agency at a cost of about $230 for 600 badges.

There will be an additional cost for the lanyards, or cords that will be worn around the neck holding the photo identification cards.

"When you're wearing these, they'll be worn while you're working. It's for instant identification," Sheriff Tom Templeton said during the meeting. "It's a start to getting the buildings up to where I think they need to be (as far as security)."

Templeton offered samples of the cards to board members, and details such as whether the cards will be horizontal or vertical. Whether different logos will be used for departments will be decided by office holders and County Board Chairman Jerry Hicks, D-Marseilles, and Vice Chairman Marius Derango, D-Peru.

At this time, visitors will not be issued visitor passes, as discussed previously, and temporary badges may be issued to non-employees who regularly work or visit the county buildings.

The idea for ID badges first was discussed in February as a way of upgrading security, specifically in the downtown courthouse and county complex on Etna Road in Ottawa.

On Friday, committee members discussed ID costs covering all 500-plus county employees at all county buildings.

Armed court security officers now are stationed at the main entrances at the Etna Road complex and at the downtown courthouse, and visitors must go through metal detectors to enter. But board members are looking for additional ways to feasibly increase security in the buildings.

In other business, board members are looking at whether to repair the elevator in the Criminal Justice Center, which has been out of service for months, or to construct a new elevator.

Committee members approved hiring Wold Architects and Associates at a cost of $1,000 to draw up preliminary plans and provide some cost estimates for both options.

A cylinder in the elevator is in disrepair, rendering the elevator unusable.

Also, if the cylinder issue if fixed, the county, under new Illinois law, is responsible for upgrading the elevator, which could cost upward of $10,000 on top of repair costs.