Overflowing Court Docket Creates Fire Hazard in Tenn.

The city fire marshal in Murfreesboro, Tenn., ordered about 50 people to leave the Rutherford County Judicial Building because of overcrowding.

There were more than 530 cases on the General Sessions Court docket Tuesday and sheriff’s Sergeant Mike Potts said the hallways were entirely filled with people.

Murfreesboro Fire Marshal Ken Honeycutt said his office would put officials at the building entrances to turn away people who didn’t have immediate business in the courts.

Clerk of Courts Eloise Gaither says Rutherford County’s population has grown by 172 percent since the court building opened in 1981.

Information from: The Daily News Journal, http://www.dnj.com