The Yukon Government is buying bulletproof glass, security cameras and protective screens for the Whitehorse courthouse.

Dan Cable, communications director for the Department of Justice, said the security upgrades stem from a 2007 risk assessment audit for the courthouse.

A bank of security cameras already monitors traffic in and out of the courthouse. Additional cameras are now being installed in the holding cells where prisoners await court appearances.

Cable said they will complement the 400 cameras already monitoring inmates at the Whitehorse jail.

"Any area of detention, as well as hospitals, when we are transporting prisoners are deemed to be correctional centres for the purposes of the act, therefore if there is an escape they have escaped the correctional system."

Clerks at the courthouse got extra protection earlier this year when new Plexiglas screens were installed across the service counter.

At the fourth floor judges’ chambers, those screens will soon be bulletproof.

"Bulletproof glass is an industry standard for protecting the judiciary,” said Cable. “There's also a separate garage and a separate elevator for the judges."

Cable said installing the bulletproof glass is budgeted at around $20,000. New security cameras in the prisoner holding cells will cost about $55,000.