County's Court Needs 'Urgent,' Board Told
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Moore County's court facility needs are "serious and urgent," and the county should get started soon on plans to correct those problems.
That's the message contained in a special study report presented to the Board of Commission-ers Monday night.
The private consultant who prepared the study also estimated that it would cost $21,706,200 to build a 116,700-square-foot building to accommodate the county's needs, plus the cost of providing sufficient parking space.
"We are in dire condition right now," said District Court Judge Jayrene Maness, a member of the Courthouse Facilities Advisory Committee.
Maness renewed the committee's request that the commissioners hold off on plans for constructing a county office building until the best location for a new courts facility can be determined.
Although the board voted unanimously to accept the report, no action was taken on the consultant's findings or the committee request.
The independent study by Steve Allen, president of Solutions for Local Government Inc., was contracted by the Board of Commissioners at the request of the committee, headed by Senior Resident Superior Court Judge James Webb. He was unable to attend the Monday meeting because he was tied up with a lengthy trial in Forsyth County.
Maness said the existing courts facilities would be strained in coming weeks, with at least three major and protracted jury trials.
"This will be a tremendous challenge," Maness said.
Howard Warren, a retired architect and committee member, told the commissioners that they should look at the Grimm tract in downtown Carthage in considering court space needs. The Grimm property, which abuts the existing jail, is the 21-acre tract purchased by the county almost three years ago for location of a new and enlarged jail and public safety building and for a county administration office building.
"You need to look at it very carefully," Warren said of the property, purchased for $1.5 million.
At one time, the commissioners did consider a different location for the office building. They looked at a corner of the Carriage Oaks property, also owned by the county, about a mile from downtown Carthage and the historic courthouse.
They later voted 3-2 to continue with plans to place both the jail/public safety complex and the office building on the Grimm tract, which is adjacent to the existing jail and across the street from the Courts Facility.
The committee has strongly recommended that any new court building be located near the new detention center/public safety complex. However, the Grimm property, which includes a wetlands area, is not considered large enough to accommodate three such large structures, plus parking spaces.
'Fixing Old Mistakes'
Allen did not list specific recommendations, but he offered a series of ideas, such as a multi-level parking deck, use of nearby county-owned property and razing the existing jail rather than incorporating 68 beds from the old jail into the new complex.
"Fixing old mistakes is never easy," Allen said in pointing to serious deficiencies in the Courts Facility as it was designed more than 32 years ago.
Among the problems is a deficit of 27,401 square feet needed to meet needs for courtrooms, offices, storage, conference rooms and related facilities.
Illustrations of the building highlighted problems with placement of jury boxes, a lack of security in the district attorney's quarters in rented property across the street and a lack of privacy in the probation/parole offices. He also illustrated a serious problem with traffic patterns where paths are crossed by judges, jurors, attorneys, defendants, inmates and the public.
"No one would suggest public seating directly behind the jury box," Allen said, pointing to the location of spectator seating in an area immediately behind the jury box in the major courtrooms.
By 2030, court space needs are projected at 97,250 square feet. The projections were based on recent population growth and the increase in the number of cases in the Moore County courts through the years. In 2000, the cases totaled 25,899, but by 2009 the number had climbed to 31,841.
Allen pointed out that 43 percent of the filings are non-criminal cases, involving such things as estates, divorces and custody matters. He estimated that more than 60,000 individuals are affected by the courts, a figure that does not include courthouse employees, jurors and law enforcement personnel.
Kent Smith, a committee member representing the Moore County Bar, later emphasized that point and indicated that what happens in the courts facility has an impact on all residents.
Many Factors
Allen told the board that his estimate of a new building's cost reflects a decrease of $55 per square foot from one a couple of years ago, a result of economic conditions.
He predicted that the building market situation will hold for another year at least but declined to predict beyond that.
In initiating the study, Allen looked into conditions leading to the need for larger updated facilities for the courts. The county's population was 50,505 in 1980, but is projected at 88,468 thirty years later.
Allen cited a series of changes in legislation and social issues since 1978, when the present building was first occupied.
New laws, larger case files, the use of computers and other newer technology, an increase in litigation and changing demographics were mentioned. Alternative means of resolving disputes are moving some cases from courtroom to conference room or private office.
Passage of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act has changed needs, as has media attention on increasing violence in courtrooms. He also cited changes following the Sept. 11, 2001 tragedy.
The existing facility has 41,102 square feet of usable space, of which 12,057 is in the basement, used by the sheriff's department and the clerk of court.
One option considered, but more or less rejected, is the concept of an addition and renovation of the existing facility.
A significant obstacle to that option is the fact that "court cannot simply be shut down for any period of time," Allen said.
In addition to the Courts Facility, the historic courthouse and the jail, the county owns several other pieces of property in downtown Carthage, such as the Central Services building now occupied by Financial Services, the public library, and the Currie Building housing public safety and Sandhills Community Action Program offices, along with several parking lots of differing sizes.
Both Board Chairman Tim Lea and Commissioner Nick Picerno serve on the committee.
The commissioners thanked Allen for his report and commended the committee for its hard work, then agreed to accept the report without taking immediate action.
Contact Florence Gilkeson at (910) 693-2479 or by e-mail at florence@thepilot.com.
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Comments
None 3 years, 2 months ago
Amen! When the WWII state-of-the-art pill box [current courthouse] was built, additional space would be used in the old courthouse if additional space was needed - where for decades court business was conducted... wallah - presto! More ready built court room facilities. Just walk across the street!
Debt for Carthage real estate continues to escalate exponentially...are all those folks moving to Pinehurst creating a backlog and crime spree for Moore County or is law enforcement going out of the county to make arrests in order to log jamb our court system and state of the art jail....?
babiehop 3 years, 2 months ago
According to data presented at the commissioners meeting 43% of court proceedings are for non-criminal cases and the old court house is now the tax department.
RmeMP 3 years, 2 months ago
Did I miss something, or did they just so happen to omit where the funding for this "serious and urgent" matter would come from? $21,706,200 to construct just the building, PLUS on unknown amount of money for "sufficient parking space". We also all know that those numbers are more than likely UNDER what the ACTUAL cost will become...
None 3 years, 2 months ago
@babiehop: So where does the County Board of Commissioners meet? In the old courtroom on the first and third Monday of each month...so what is the courtroom used for the rest of the month? A way to heat and cool the rest of the building? Inquiring minds would like to know....
None 3 years, 2 months ago
"used by the sheriff's department", for several years now. When the state of the art jail was built, the talking heads at the time inferred that facility would last for years.
Every time bloated county government wants newer, bigger and better, all of the elected officials proclaim that the newest, the biggest, and better advancement in technologically will serve the people of Moore County ~ for years to come. Until a new Sheriff, Clerk of Court, or a new member of the Board of Commissioners wants their name on a plaque or building, they are persistent until they spend taxpayers money for another new project. Or in the case of Carriage Oaks Shopping Center, another procurement making some wealthy through tax increases. Perhaps Larry Caddell will run out of friends and acquaintances who own property in Carthage.
Why not save taxpayers money by taking down plaques with former Commissioners, and replace the names with the existing board. It would be a lot less expensive.
RmeMP 3 years, 2 months ago
@expatriate: You said, "at this point, nobody cares what is in it just so long as one gets through"; I would like to politely recommend that you change that to "the politicians pushing this bill, at their own peril, do not care what is in it as long as it gets passed"; because I, along with 73% of the other mentally sain Americans, DO CARE about what's in this bill - and am scared as all get out that this farce will actually get through :'( I care whats in it, because I'm afriad of what it's going to do to this country that I so love.
CSmithson 3 years, 2 months ago
The courthouse needs are not really under the control of the County. The State of NC requires counties to provide court facilities. If the County does not provide sufficient space for the courts, the State will FORCE them to do so. This is is pretty much the case for schools and the jail too.
Yes there is some wiggle room with timing and "full" is somewhat subjective in many cases, but in the end, the County will always have to build, buy, or expand certain facilities. The only way this will change is if the State decides to take over the responsibility for them. Seeing as how the State budget is a complete wreck, that is not going to happen any time soon.
None 3 years, 2 months ago
@CSmithson ~ Chris no one with the county has provided any information or documentation from the "high-taxers" in Raleigh. Perhaps the state should foreclose on the county and take over services. The state doesn't have enough money to file an action against the county to force anything. Broke is a precursor to bankruptcy. I would have an interest in seeing reliable statistics from the census on population growth in MC; as compared to tax growth revenue as well.
CSmithson 3 years, 2 months ago
@exp The reassesments only ensure each property owner pays their fair share based on the relative property values of others. If the total value goes down, I would be willing to bet the rate goes up in order to ensure the same or more revenue.
It works the same in both directions. With the last reval, the total value went up and they lowered the rate, but not enough to make things revenue neutral. Thus, most people got a tax increase hidden within a rate decrease. It wasn't hidden though. State law requires the publication of a "revenue neutral" tax rate in the budget when a county does a revaluation.
Yearly revals would probably be too expensive, but doing them as often as possible ensures those whose property has not increased in value (or even gone down in value) are not forced to pay more than their fair share of property taxes.
Now for the skeptic in all of us: Why cancel a reval this year? The County Board of Commissioners is clearly doing what they can to cut the tax rate by a penny or two this year, even if it really only means a buck or two a month for the average homeowner. Of course, it is an election year and thus an opportune time to cut the rate. Had we done a revaluation and the total valuation for the county gone down, they might have had to increase the rate even if the total levy were the same as with current values and a rate cut. We'd be paying the same amount in taxes, but it looks better in an election year to have a rate cut.
dustyrhoades 3 years, 2 months ago
Toda: I'd like to see the old courtroom used again for that purpose as well, because I'm a fan of the old-school, high windowed, "traditional" courtroom. And we've used it once or twice to handle overflow days. There are two problems, both of which may be solvable:
1) The commissioners have erected a nice long dais across the area where the judge's bench, witness box, clerk's desk, etc would normally be.
2) That courtroom sits in the middle of the traffic circle. Big trucks coming up the hill and going into the turn sound like they're coming through the middle of the room, sometimes stopping proceedings. And if you haven't noticed, we get a LOT of big noisy trucks during the day.
As I say, these problems could possibly be dealt with. I don't know if there's better soundproofing available or if they could construct some sort of reconfigurable dais.
Still wouldn't deal with the office space crunch, though. More laws, more crimes, more procedures and requirements in civil matters, therefore more clerks and probation officers and judges and bailiffs...
None 3 years, 2 months ago
@dusty ~ I've seen and heard many good trial attorneys defend clients in that old courtroom, with the same old circle and trucks with double stacks. If you ever had a chance to hear H.F. "Chub" Sewell on the defense, he could turn lemons into lemonade.
I can hear him now if a double stacker rounded the courthouse as he was arguing a case before the jury: "just as a truck rounded the apex of the courthouse; with his Bible in his right hand lifted above his head, "and that ladies and gentlemen, is the prosecutions case, just a lot of smoke and hot air"....why do you think Jim VanCamp gets the big bucks? He learned from the best!
dustyrhoades 3 years, 2 months ago
Expat: Atticus Finch, actually. Not that I have anything against the esteemed Mr. Griffith's work.
And Toda, Chub's name is still spoken of with great affection and near-reverence. The man's a legend.
None 3 years, 2 months ago
Dusty ~ should our paths cross, I have a delightful story told by Chub about a signalman with a lantern and a train....the one question that wasn't asked during direct or cross examination was if the lantern was lit? You get the picture. Liability in a wrongful death action....My wife speaks often about his preaching at the Gospel Chapel in Carthage on Sunday mornings.
Hey, I don't ever recall a feature on Chub who by the way was one of Jessie Helms' best friends. Chub was one of the good guys when attorneys wasn't equated with shark food...? How about a feature article on him....would make some interesting reading for those who never had the privilege of knowing him.