George,  Sorry, I wasn't entirely accurate ... Some of them did not allow phones before 9-11, either.  EVERYTHING in the area got beefed up after 9-11.  I had to take my newborn to Arlington with me one day.  Most place just let you wheel the buggy on through the metal detectors.  NOPE ... had to take the baby out of the carseat, put IT through the detectors, fold up the stroller, put IT through the detectors, diaper bad totally searched.  And they KNEW me...   Some of the more rural courthouses in the NoVA area don't even use metal detectors.  But many don't allow camera cell phones (the threat of taking photos of witnesses in trials was one reason I heard ... taking pics of documents was another).  All of them give lawyers a pass on this rule, and courthouse employees (meaning anyone with a county badge).  Heck, if you have a county badge, you just breeze through the detectors even if you beep (hope none of them are "disgruntled"). 

To Kurt - Even if courthouses allow cell phones, oftentimes we travel through rural areas to get to the courthouses and there are just dead cell spots all along the way - or the courthouse itself is a dead-zone.  If you are contacting independent abstractors, that's what they are - independent.  Often don't have someone sitting in an office waiting for a land line to ring ... if they had to pay someone to do that, you'd be paying a LOT more for your title   :-)