CASTLE ROCK, Colo. â€” Taking a trip during the holidays isnâ€™t the only time that people might get a full-body scan to pass through security.

People heading to court to testify, get a restraining order, pay a ticket or answer criminal charges could also face a full-body scan at courthouses.

The U.S. Marshals Service, which is in charge of protecting federal judges nationwide, is exploring their use at federal courthouses. And two state courthouses in Douglas and El Paso counties in Colorado have already deployed full-body scanners that use radio waves to detect all objects on a person, including paper.

A guard in a separate room monitors the gray images with pixilated faces and genital areas, and the images arenâ€™t stored on a computer. officials said. All visitors to the Douglas County Courthouse in Castle Rock, Colo., undergo full-body scans, while guards at the El Paso County Judicial Center in Colorado Springs use the scanners during peak hours.

TSA officers, who handle security at airports, have been called molesters and threatened as they try to carry out pat-downs.

The new security techniques are meant to thwart plots by would-be terrorists to use liquid explosives and bombs hidden in shoes and inside underwear. Court observers note that the threat in a courtroom is somewhat different.

â€œWhat we are still worried about at a courthouse is angry divorce litigants with a gun,â€ said Sam Kamin, a law professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. â€œMetal detectors are pretty good at that.â€

Still, court officials note that evolving technology in materials, including plastic guns and knives, arenâ€™t detected by the 1970s technology of metal detectors.