Allen County voters could decide whether to approve a courthouse remodel as early as November.
Plans call for a new, second courtroom — identical in size and design — to be built to the south of the existing one. Other changes would improve security and relieve congestion.
Costs of the project haven’t been announced but earlier estimates indicated it could exceed $5 million.
The county hired Crossland Construction of Columbus in January to lead the project, which would include ushering voters through a bond election.
A committee of county and court personnel have been meeting with Crossland to discuss aspects of the project.
Their plan is to have the bond issue on the November ballot. They’ll meet again next month and will start an educational campaign by late August.
Bob Johnson, county counselor and a member of the advisory committee, gave commissioners an update Tuesday. Crossland will put together a plan for video and social media posts about the project, as well as informational meetings, Johnson said. It will include details about projected costs and how much the bond will cost taxpayers.
“It affects everybody from a safety standpoint,” Johnson said of the need for courtroom improvements.
The second courtroom will extend only a little ways to the south and won’t significantly take away green space on the courthouse lawn, Johnson noted. That has been one of the questions the committee has faced from the public since plans were announced.
It also will be designed to match the exterior aesthetic.
CHIEF JUDGE Daniel Creitz and Sheriff Bryan Murphy have been lobbying for the improved courtroom, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. The public health crisis highlighted some of the inherent dangers of the existing space, which is often crowded and does not include a separate space for inmates awaiting court hearings.
Creitz called the project “a need, not a want.” He urged commissioners to be proactive with the remodel, rather than wait until an incident happens forcing them to make changes because of a lawsuit or some sort of government mandate.
A secondary magistrate courtroom, which has rarely been used since the pandemic, is much too small, Creitz said. Remodel plans would move the chief district clerk’s office into that room.
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.
Initial plans called for an underground tunnel and elevator to transport inmates between the jail and courtroom, but that would be difficult and costly. It was cut from the project.
