BENTONVILLE — Benton County employees shouldn’t get too attached to their current workspace as they may find themselves caught up in an office shuffle.
Office space will start to open up in September when the Benton County Health Department moves from its longtime home near the county jail and road department on Southwest 14th Street to the Center For Nonprofits in Rogers if the plans being considered by county officials go according to schedule.
A second shift could follow in 18 months or so if the county’s plans for a new juvenile justice center move forward. Those plans would allow the county’s current juvenile detention center, juvenile court and juvenile probation offices to move from their current downtown location adjacent to the Benton County Courthouse to a new building on the same county-owned property the Health Department is leaving.
The Health Department relocation would open up about 14,500 square feet of space in a county-owned building, according to Jim Edens, facilities manager for the county. The opening of the juvenile justice center would clear another 9,748 square feet of indoor space now taken up by the juvenile detention center, along with 4,700 square feet of outdoor exercise space and 5,776 square feet of space now used by the juvenile court and juvenile probation offices.
County Judge Dave Bisbee said he’s not making plans for any changes, since his term in office ends Dec. 31 and a new administration will take office in January.
Justice of the Peace Dan Douglas said the county will have a lot to consider as the new facilities being developed open up space in county-owned buildings. The county has some offices in leased space, which will be one consideration. A bigger consideration, he said, will be how the different county offices fit into the spaces that open up.
“We’re going to have to do some juggling,” Douglas said. “It’s just like doing a jigsaw puzzle. You have to pick up one piece and see if it fits. Then you put that piece down and look at another one until you find the one that fits.”
Richard McComas, county comptroller, said the county budgeted $253,733.88 in rent on nine leases in 2010. The leases include $58,050 for space for the Benton County Election Commission; $57,600 for space for the prosecuting attorney’s office; $42,000 for Circuit Court Judge Doug Schrantz’ court; two leases with a cost of $43,908 for the county assessor’s office; two leases with a cost of $32,075.88 for the collector’s office; a lease for $11,700 for space for the county clerk’s office; and another lease for $8,400 for space for the county coroner’s office.
McComas said the Health Department’s move and the opening of the new juvenile justice center would give the county options for cutting some of those costs.
“It all depends on what we can move in there,” he said of the old health department facility. “But once they build a juvenile justice center we ought to be able to save some more there too.”