Other mistake: When Barney is ready to pour the plaster cast into the shoe prints, there are only a few prints on the ground. There should be a continuous set of prints from the barn door to wherever.
Floyd, the Gay Deceiver - S3-E9
Other mistake: In the final scene near the end of the episode Floyd calls Andy "Andy Griffith". It's muffled, but if you listen closely it's audible.
Other mistake: Floyd's car has the license plate number "RD 757" which has been seen on other vehicles in previous episodes.
Answer: As noted in the previous answers, in real life, things like this provided wind and/or rain deflection, and also maintained a bit of privacy when blinds were raised somewhat. The interior courthouse set was located in the studio, so the "outside" Main Street didn't exist. I believe these things were added to the courthouse windows for practicality, to avoid some crew movement being visible on the opposite side of those windows. These are not "window boxes" to hold anything, as they're actually bottomless; we can see the Venetian blind's long pull cords under them. They're made of plywood and simple to build, so the "material and labor" was inexpensive. Similar variations made of different materials are in other movies/shows. In 1957's "12 Angry Men," textured chicken wire glass panels are in the jury room windows, and in "Jesse Stone: Night Passage" another type is in Jesse's office windows.
Super Grover ★