Nevada state officials said boulders recently placed on sidewalks at entrances to the state Capitol grounds are an effort to improve security following a March 29 letter warning Gov. Jim Gibbons and other governors around the nation to resign or "be removed."

 

"We needed to act quickly," said Lynn Hettrick, Gibbons' deputy chief of staff. "The rocks will sit there for now, while we decide what to do next."

 

In addition to the boulders to keep vehicles from the Capitol grounds, a metal detector was installed at the Capitol's main entrance. All side entrances were closed, and employees and visitors must enter and exit through the front doors, says an RGB.com report.

 

Armed police officers sit at desks near the entrance of these buildings, but there is no requirement that visitors pass through metal detectors, the report says.

 

Nevada is among 21 states with Capitol entrance metal detectors and screening devices, according to a new National Conference of State Legislatures study. Six states declined to participate in the study, and the legislators' group requested that no information be given about the specific security measures states use. But the study found most states still only use armed police officers to scrutinize people who walk into their capitols.