In response to "Sheriff Says Costs Driven By Mandates," during the two trials I served on, there often seemed to be more law enforcement people in the courtroom than there were on the jury. This was apparently because they were required to accompany prisoners to and from the jail, watch them in the holding cells, etc. This must be very expensive, as they spent most of their time just standing around waiting. If a private contractor was doing this job, the county could save a lot of money, and maybe hire more officers.