DistrictJudge Daniel Cretiz unveiled plans to remodel and expand the courthouse.
It’s still too early to know what might come of those plans, but Creitz said something eventually needs to be done to improve security and relieve congestion for the existing courtroom and associated offices.
That became even more apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic, he said, as social distancing requirements exposed more of the space issues and security concerns.
The smaller courtroom, previously used by the magistrate judge, doesn’t have enough space and hasn’t been used much since the pandemic.
The new plan would move the chief district clerk’s office into that room. The public wouldn’t see much change when it came to interacting with court clerk staff.
The main courtroom would stay where it is and would continue to be in use.
But the plan would add a second courtroom, identical in size and design, to the south of the existing one. Between the two would be two holding rooms and attorney-client consultation rooms.
Several other rooms would be built to the east of the new courtroom. They would include new office space for the district judge and his staff, along with a training and meeting room, and a large jury room with restrooms.
One change that was important to both Judge Creitz and Sheriff Bryan Murphy would be to build a tunnel underneath the existing courtroom and along a hall to the east, connecting the courtrooms to the jail.
It would allow jail staff to securely transport inmates to court hearings. The tunnel would end in the secured area between the two courtrooms, where the holding cells are located.
Sheriff Murphy said that is a big security improvement. Currently, jail staff must wait in the hallway or courtroom with inmates, and multiple inmates may be shackled to each other.
THE PLANS would cut into the courtyard a little but not much, Creitz said.
The outside of the facility would look nearly identical to the existing structure, so it blends well into the area.
Creitz did not want to publicly discuss any sort of cost estimate, and encouraged commissioners to seek that information for themselves.
Creitz has spent several months working with an architect, the sheriff, court staff and others to determine a plan that best suits the court’s needs. Now that those plans are complete, he said he is turning the project over to commissioners to decide what steps to take next.
