The emergency generator at the Cole County Courthouse started like it should during a test, Tuesday evening.
When the courts were through with business at 4:30 p.m., power to the building was shut down to test the generator, believed to have been installed in the 1970s. It was put in to make sure the old jail and first floor of the courthouse would continue to have power if an outage occurred.
Unused in several years, the generator kicked in as hoped.
County emergency management officials, along with sheriff's and ambulance service officials, told the county commissioners last month they were concerned about a potential loss of phone and computer service during an extended power outage without a backup. Facilities for county services are housed in the courthouse basement.
County officials checked courthouse phones and computers after the generator started, and both systems were back up shortly.
County officials did say they wanted to make sure there would be easy access to the generator should the power go out late at night or early in the morning when the courthouse is closed.