By CHRIS MORRIS
The fourth floor of the City-County Building will soon have a new look.
Crews with Upton Pry, Inc. are working to have the renovation work completed by Jan. 1, 2009. That is when the new Floyd County Superior Court 3 will open for business, with either Rick Fox or Maria Granger presiding as judge.
Work began last month on the project which has a price tag of $716,000.
“They are on schedule,” said Steve Bush, president of the Floyd County Commissioners. “We are making strides.”
When the renovations were first discussed, the plan was to move county probation and alcohol and tobacco prevention offices from the fourth floor to the M.L. Reisz Building along Spring Street.
However, that suggestion did not sit well with County Court Judge Glenn Hancock. Hancock argued that he needs to have probation officers in the same building as his court. He also didn’t think conference rooms were needed in place of the probation offices.
It looks like he will get his wish.
Both offices will be relocated to the first floor after the County Assessor and Township Assessor offices are moved to the basement. The public defender’s office will also be moved to the basement.
“For now it looks like they will be going to the first floor,” Hancock said. “That certainly helps. My complaint was I just didn’t think it was in the best interest of taxpayer’s money to move them out of the building.”
Besides building a new courtroom, the renovations will include a law library and conference rooms as well as a new wall to separate county court from the hallway, which Hancock said is “desperately” needed.
So far, except for a little noise, Hancock said the renovation work has not disrupted court proceedings. Both county court and circuit court are located on the fourth floor.
However, he said there may be a period of time when court will be held without a wall while a new one is being constructed.
The new court is expected to ease the jail overcrowding issue and the backed up court docket. At least, that is Hancock’s hope.
“I’m certainly hoping we get more cases through, whether that means people going to jail or going home. We just need to proceed on,” he said. “I hope it will help with jail overcrowding.”
