The lockers were replaced April 8 at the urging of Sheriff Tom Dart, who agreed to provide part-time staff to help guard the lockers. (Photo by Chris Hibbert/for Chronicle Media)

It took eight days of panic for Cook County officials to figure out that removing the cell phone lockers at Chicago’s Leighton Criminal Court building was a bad idea.

Visitors, witnesses and defendants were unprepared when lockers were yanked out April 1 from the building at 2600 South California Ave. on the advice of the Department of Homeland Security.

Defendants and citizens arriving at the courthouse were told they could not bring the phones inside. This led to reports of people refusing to enter the courtroom without their phones, or trying to hide them in planters. A food cart vendor outside the courtroom set up a cell-phone guarding service for $2.

The lockers were replaced April 8 at the urging of Sheriff Tom Dart, who agreed to provide part-time staff to help guard the lockers.

Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans banned cell phones three years ago on fears that recordings and photos were being made of witnesses and jurors in criminal courtrooms.

The cell phone ban doesn’t apply to lawyers, judges, police officers, jurors and government employees.

But courtroom staff complained the lockers were being used to hide contraband, and the Cook County Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said there was a risk that they could be loaded with an explosive device, according to the chief judge’s website.

The lockers were reinstalled on the other side of the security checkpoint.

The Cook County Circuit Court is seeking proposals from a private contractor to maintain the locker system.

— Cell phone lockers go away then return to Cook Co. courthouse —