BENTONVILLE -- Moving will begin today for most employees of the Benton County Prosecuting Attorney's Office.
The office is moving from the Benton County Courthouse basement to the second and third floors of the Massey Building until renovations are complete.
Grant
The Walton Family Foundation, which favors the downtown option, has provided the county with the $2.8 million grant to begin renovation of the historic courthouse and has offered another $2 million for renovation if the courts are kept downtown. The foundation also has offered to reimburse the county for the cost of land acquisition for the Second Street building site.
Source: Staff report
Nathan Smith, Benton County prosecuting attorney, expects renovations to take up to a year or longer to complete.
The renovations will be paid for through a $2.8 million grant to the county from the Walton Family Foundation, said County Judge Bob Clinard. The grant also covers exterior work on the courthouse, he said.
Smith said more than 30 staff members will move to the new office. Smith, his felony deputy prosecutors and their assistants will move from the courthouse.
Juvenile and misdemeanor prosecutors and the hot-check office will remain on the courthouse's second floor, Smith said. The victim witness coordinator also will remain at the courthouse, Smith said.
Professional movers will begin their work today. The move is expected to take four days, Smith said.
Once the move is completed architects will be able to go inside the prosecutor's office and develop plans for the renovations, Clinard said.
Smith said historically his staff has adapted around the space. He wants the renovations to make the office more functional for prosecutors. More conference space would be a plus, Smith said.
Bryan Sexton, deputy prosecutor, said some adjustments will have to be made since the office won't be in same building as one courtroom and across the street from another courtroom. The adjustments mainly concern transporting court files and setting up court, Sexton said.
Smith plans for the office to go paperless in the future, meaning case files would be loaded onto tablets or iPads.
Jay Saxton, Benton County chief public defender, also is working on his office going paperless.
Clinard sees the move possibly as the first stage in restoring the courthouse. The grant does not cover restoration of the main courtroom., Clinard said.
Restoration efforts will depend on when and whether new court facilities are constructed, Clinard said.
NW News on 06/08/2015