Bedbugs found in offices at York County Moss Justice Center; treatment underway

Some offices at the Moss Justice Center in York are off limits after bedbugs were found in the building.

The building is holding South Carolina criminal court this week. Court is going on as planned, though prosecutors have been forced out of their offices, and are working from conference rooms, a law library and a jury assembly room.

The Moss center, off S.C. 5 on the east side of York, is where criminal court is held. The York County Courthouse in downtown York is not affected.

The insects were found in parts of the solicitor’s office, on the second floor, and the public defender’s office, on the first floor, at only one end of the building, said Kevin Brackett, 16th Circuit Solicitor.

No areas where the public has access were affected, Brackett said.

Trained dogs were brought in Monday night and Tuesday morning to find the areas affected, he said.

David Hamilton, York County Clerk of Court, said that employees in the building are not at risk after areas where there are bugs were identified.

“There were no areas that the public has access to that were found to have any bugs,” Hamilton said. “It was solely employee private areas of those two offices.”

Treatment by special heating instruments that kill the bugs will be done Tuesday night, after the building closes for business at 5 p.m., said Hamilton and Brackett.

“Dogs trained to smell and find these insects were brought in,” Brackett said. “Nothing was found in courtrooms or areas the public has access to. The insects were only in areas of our office and the public defender’s office directly below us.”

Brackett and Hamilton both said that the decision to keep court open, and to allow employees and the public to continue working, was made after determining that the rest of the building was safe.

Treatment by heat is expected to kill the bugs, Brackett said.

“Hopefully by Wednesday morning the bugs will be dead,” he said. “County staff stepped in quickly and immediately to handle this situation.”

16th Circuit Chief Public defender Harry Dest said that some bedbugs were found in the public defender offices and those areas will be treated.

The Clerk of Court Office remains open to the public, Hamilton said.

Areas on the other side of the building, which include the York County Sheriff’s Office and county jail, were not affected, Brackett said.

Check back for updates.

This story was originally published October 16, 2018 at 11:42 AM.