by Olivia P. Tucker
Intern Reporter
Scott County Commissioners met Wednesday, May 25, in a special meeting to discuss updating the courthouse as well as fixing the original roof.
Scott Circuit Court Judge Jason Mount said that before COVID the commissioners were working on changing security as well as updates on the courtroom and court office space. Mount was told by the commissioners to get plans, which he told commissioners he spoke to Angela Kleer and David Allen from Michell All Ritz Architects “who had the plans drawn just before the world shut down”…prior to COVID.
“Every county around us has done something, many counties have built state of the art judicial centers,” said Judge Mount.
He added he would love to have a new building, however he also loves the historic courtroom that he currently works in, the courthouse having the courtrooms as well as being in the center of Scottsburg. Mount emphasized that he would prefer the courtrooms remained in the courthouse if there was a way to do so.
Architects Kleer and Allen came up with plans to redo the second floor to let the courts have the entire space as well as they looked at the whole building, specifically the basement.
Though there is an option to have a court hearing room in the basement, the Judge said it was not an ideal.
“If we were to take over the second floor, we need to find room for the prosecutor’s office,” said Mount.
County Commissioner President Mike Jones said that time had passed when Mount suggested updates to the courthouse and asked for an estimated cost to see if the updates would be possible to do.
Jones added that if the prosecutor’s office was to be moved from the second floor that another courtroom could be built and added that the prosecutor’s would be moved to the basement according to the plans the architects presented.
Mount suggested that the prosecutor’s office goes on the first floor, leaving the clerk’s office and prosecutor’s to the first floor and putting probation in the basement would be an ideal long term goal.
Mount said though moving the prosecutor’s office to the basement is an option, there would be questions as to where the probation office would move to as well.
The circuit court judge suggested that the commissioner’s authorize the architects to look into the options of where the prosecutor’s office can go, the first floor or the basement. He also added that there would need to be discussion of the needs of what the prosecutor’s office would need.
Jones said that it needed to be known how much space was needed for the auditor, treasurer, recorder, and all of the offices that are not connected to the courts.
Auditor Tammy Johnson said that depending on where those departments were decided to go would allow space to be freed up, however the courthouse also serves as the county headquarters for Scott County, according to Johnson.
Commissioner John Lizenby said that since he has been a commissioner that there has been talk of ways to move county offices, those plans however fell through.
Lizenby said that there are some options out there to look at when it comes to figuring out what to do with moving around departments.
Mount said that it is time to make some changes to the courthouse that will get them through the next 20 to 40 years.
He added that he hesitates to have the courthouse without the courts like Washington and Jackson County, even though it is an option to have the courts no longer at the courthouse.
The commissioners met with the engineer and Royalty Roofing on Monday, May 23 where the engineer shared a drawing of what he wants to have repaired to the roof.
One issue that has occurred was that the support beam that goes from one side of the original courthouse building to the other was found to be cracked. The engineer wants to put two 24-feet, two foot high beams and have it supported all the way to the basement.
Jones added that they are waiting on Royalty Roofing to come back with a price amount before moving forward with these repairs.
Judge Mount said that the Mid America Science Park is working for the courts at this time and he is planning to be there all summer.
Jones stated that he hoped that the courts wouldn’t be there all summer but he is looking at six weeks to have the roof completed.