BENTONVILLE -- Benton County's justices of the peace on Tuesday resumed discussion of a new courts building, asking consultants to provide the Finance Committee with costs for a "generic" building before getting into more detail on location and design.
"At Finance we're going to decide whether or not we want to spend the money," Tom Allen, justice of the peace and chairman of the committee, said. "It's not in the budget."
What’s next
Benton County’s justices of the peace will continue their discussion on expanding the county’s circuits courts facilities when the county’s Finance Committee meets at 6 p.m. July 7 in the Quorum Courtroom at the County Administration Building.
Source: Staff report
The Public Safety Committee, narrowed the next step for the county after discussing a report on the anticipated growth of the circuit courts and related offices.
The committee voted to have the cost estimate done before proceeding with the next phase of the study, which will include site evaluation and consideration of how current and future needs can be accommodated in a new building or in combination of some construction and continued use of existing facilities. The cost of phase two of the study was put at $119,500.
Barry Moehring, justice of the peace, questioned the report's projections on the number of judges and courtrooms the county should prepare for. Moehring said the process of approving circuit judges has to go through a judicial committee and the state Legislature. He said no new judges have been authorized since 2008.
"It's hard to get a judgeship created," Moehring said.
Circuit Judge Doug Schrantz said he's familiar with the process of getting the state to approve a judgeship and he's confident Benton County can gain approval. The county has to begin preparing for that approval now, he said.
"When the need is demonstrated, they come through," Schrantz said. "We, as a county, have been behind the 8-ball for a number of years. If we don't do something we are going to reach a crisis point."
The preliminary study results look at population growth and increasing number of court cases in Benton County to give a rough idea of how much space the county needs now, how much may be needed in 2030 and projects those trends out to 2090, Joel Jones, justice of the peace and chairman of said. The initial report doesn't consider location or building design.
"The needs assessment tells us how big a building we need or how much space we need. Then we need to look at how big a spot do we need to put a building on and whether it will work in any given space we've got," Jones said.
Plans for a courts building have been heavily discussed the past few years. A study in January 2014 identified three sites -- two downtown and one on county land on Southwest 14th Street near the jail and Road Department. County Judge Bob Clinard favors the Southwest 14th Street location and said Tuesday he will not proceed with a process excluding the 14th Street location
"I will not approve a motion by the court to only consider a downtown site," Clinard said. "I will approve a recommendation to consider a downtown site and a site on 102 (14th Street)."
The Public Safety Committee endorsed a downtown building project early in 2015 and the Finance Committee spent some time exploring financing options for a downtown building. Work on the proposal was delayed in September after the county's six circuit judges sent a letter to Clinard and the Quorum Court opposing both downtown plans as inadequate.
The letter, citing concerns over security, access for the public and judicial system employees, parking and future expansion, prompted the decision to seek a consulting firm to help with the project. Perkowitz, Ruth & Cromwell, the consultants chosen, presented initial findings to the committee Tuesday.
The initial assessment doesn't offer any information on building design or locations, with that being part of phase two of the study. What the consultants provided is information on trends and growth projections in population and circuit court case load.
The study estimates the population will grow from 249,672 in 2015 to 344,523 by 2030. The circuit courts annual caseload is estimated to grow from 10,234 in 2015 to 18,800 by 2030.
The consultants say a similar growth in the number of circuit judges will see the county grow from six judges, with associated courtrooms, staff, and supporting personnel in the prosecutor, public defender, circuit clerk and other offices, to 11 judges in 2030. By 2090, the study projects the county would need 29 judges and supporting personnel if the trend continue.
The assessment looks at the space needed to house the judges and others, without regard to a building design or location. For the 2016 needs, the study says the county needs 122,412 square feet. By 2030 that space grows to 157,861 square feet. Beyond 2030, space needs will grow by 41,645 square feet every 15 years.
NW News on 06/08/2016