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COLUMBIA -- Two members of Congress from the Upstate are raising questions about a $2.5 million project to build offices in Irmo for a federal appeals court judge despite construction of a $40 million federal courthouse in nearby Columbia.

U.S. 4th District Rep. Bob Inglis of Travelers Rest said Congress should "take another look at" construction of an unmarked building solely for Judge Dennis Shedd, who was appointed three years ago to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond.

"We need to take another look at that," he said. "We need to not be so convinced of our need for security."

U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint's office says it's looking into the project following disclosure of the office project by The Greenville News.

"Senator DeMint believes that every taxpayer dollar should be used wisely. Our office is looking into the situation," said spokesman Wesley Denton.

Shedd, a longtime former aide to the late Sen. Strom Thurmond, has referred questions to court officials in Washington.

Karen Redmond, spokesperson for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, declined comment.

Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, a national, nonprofit government watchdog group, said while he appreciates the government's concerns in protecting judges, "this is another instance of government overspending."

"We are sympathetic to the security concerns of the judge and the courts generally," he said. "But there always is a cheaper way. This is another instance of the government doing it the most expensive way possible."

Others need the space Shedd now occupies in the U.S. Bankrupcty Court building, and there is no space in the recently constructed $40 million federal courthouse in Columbia, Redmond told The News last week.

She cited security concerns in not placing Shedd in a public office building, though another 4th Circuit judge in Columbia has offices in a downtown bank building.

Inglis said that while he understands the need for security for judges and other public officials, those concerns should not be unreasonable.

He said that's why he does not have an office at Greenville's federal building.

"One of the reasons is it's so security conscious that you can't get in there," he said. "If you walk in with a cell phone, they send you back to your car."

"We need to be careful" when spending federal money "to not be too free with how you use it," he said.

Redmond said last week that the government has tightened security around federal judges as a result of recent incidents.

In March, the husband and mother of a U.S. District Court judge were killed at the judge's home in Chicago. That same month, a superior court judge, a court reporter and a deputy were killed in a shooting at an Atlanta courthouse.

Tuesday, a Tennessee inmate escaped from a courthouse there after a correctional officer escorting him to a vehicle was shot and killed.

Redmond said Shedd does not want to be in a building with civilian access because of past threats against him.

Fitton said the federal government leases space throughout Washington in privately owned buildings that have secure access to protect the public employees who work inside.

The cost of providing new quarters and courtrooms for the federal judiciary has long been a concern, Fitton said. He said Congress is reluctant to provide sufficient oversight of the process.

"I think this is another instance where the judiciary pleads poverty and yet they spend money like this," he said.

The federal government is in the first of a two-year moratorium on courthouse construction, officials said, as it attempts to trim costs. The moratorium followed a budgetary shortfall for the judiciary in fiscal year 2004 that caused it to cut staff by 6 percent, according to the Government Accountability Office, the watchdog arm of Congress.

Shedd's office building will be constructed by a private developer and leased back to the government at a cost of $258,713 a year for 10 years, officials said.

Although the federal appeals court hears cases in Virginia, its members are allowed offices in or near the communities in which they live. Chief Judge William W. Wilkins Jr. has an office in the Greenville federal courthouse.

Officials said that while no other federal judge in South Carolina has had a building constructed solely for his offices, such arrangements are not unique nationally.

Staff writer David Dykes contributed to this report.