Franklin County Courthouse is located at 140 Main St. in Farmington. Sun Journal file photo

FARMINGTON — Franklin County commissioners voted Tuesday to delay taking action on a proposed Limited Access Policy for county buildings to delineate between private and public spaces.

Commissioners want to get more information and input before making a decision.

County Administrator Amy Bernard and Deputy Administrator/Human Resources Director Tiffany Baker attended a Maine Town, City and County Manager Association Conference on First Amendment Audit Training.

The training, which Commissioner Bob Carlton said he also attended, highlighted issues in other counties where people were aggressive in the public building, such as people trying to push their way into employee-only areas.

The county courthouse already has signs that indicate only employees can go beyond a certain area. A policy would be able to back up the enforcement of keeping the public and private areas separate, including desk space and other existing off-limits areas to the public.

The policy would cover all county offices including the Sheriff’s Office, Franklin County Detention Center and the district attorneys office.

There has been no trouble at the Franklin County offices as of Tuesday.

“We need to establish areas that are pubic and private,” Baker said.

The cameras people have could zoom in on confidential information, she said.

“This is where YouTubers will come to your office or place of work and go through offices stating that it is the people’s office,” Bernard said.

Baker said as a human resource director, she is obligated to protect and keep employee information protected. Some of the other departments are required to keep client information confidential.

The policy is “being transparent with the public,” Baker said.

If a policy has to be enforced, it should be done in way to foster positive and friendly relations between the government and the public, Wilton resident Nathan Hiltz said.

Bernard said they are already enforcing the private and public spaces. The policy would just put what is currently being done in writing.

“The goal of most of these folks is to cause confrontation,” Carlton said, referring to YouTubers shown in other county offices. They post the videos online and are getting paid, he said.

Commission Chairman Lance Harvell of Farmington and Commissioner Terry Brann of Wilton had not watched the video that was used during training. All three commissioners agreed to table the issue