OLYMPIA, WA - An inmate accused of attacking a Thurston County corrections officer will wear an electronic device that can emit up to 50,000 volts through his body if he becomes violent during his upcoming trials.

Carl W. Vance, 62, will have to wear an electronic cuff around his leg known as the Band It during all three trials, a judge decided Thursday in Thurston County Superior Court.

The device delivers an immobilizing shock if the subject attempts to attack anyone. The shock can be delivered by a wireless remote up to 150 feet away.

There also will be five Thurston County corrections officers in the courtroom to heighten security.

Witnesses, county jail personnel and others have raised concerns about security during Vance's trials, given that he allegedly assaulted a county corrections officer in a courthouse elevator, said Daniel Berschauer, a retired Superior Court judge presiding over Vance's trials.

Vance is accused of attacking officer Teresa Benefield March 31 when an elevator stopped between floors in Thurston County Superior Court. Benefield fought off her attacker for 20 minutes until court officers were able to pry open the doors. Berschauer, who spent 20 years as a Thurston County Superior Court judge before retiring at the end of 2004, said he had never presided over a case in which a defendant wore the Band It.

But the device is used in courts across the country, he said.

"It would only be utilized to protect other people," Berschauer said. "It wouldn't be used willy nilly."

The Superior Court's seven judges disqualified themselves from presiding over Vance's trials since they all were sitting judges during the alleged jail elevator attack - an incident that traumatized employees throughout the courthouse complex.

Since then, several improvements to courthouse security have been added, including new elevators equipped with surveillance cameras and linked to the jail's master control room so a jail officer can take control from the outside in an emergency.

The Thurston County Commission also approved the hiring of two more corrections officers to provide more muscle while transporting inmates.

Vance - who had been representing himself in two of his trials but decided Thursday to exercise his right to legal counsel in all three - objected to being equipped with the Band It. He said he worries the device would be visible and prejudice the jurors.