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Monday, January 14, 2008
Ind. Courts - "A proposed list of minimum standards for all Indiana courthouses may be passed in the near future by the Indiana Supreme Court"
That is a quote from this lengthy story by Maribeth Holtz in the Grant County Chronicle-Tribune, updating this story from Jan. 11th. Some quotes:
Building security seems to be a sticking point in whether county officials will go forward with plans to renovate the historic courthouse and build a new courts building."We've done an awful lot for a long time with what little we were able to work with," Grant County Sheriff Darrell Himelick said.
While Himelick considers the historic courthouse to be nearly as secure as it can be, there are some structural issues that perhaps only a new building could solve.
Plans recommended by commissioners call for the renovation of the historic courthouse, which would cost $2.25 million, and the construction of a new building to house courts and the clerk's office, which would cost $6.25 million. With an extra $1 million for costs such as engineering fees, the total package comes to a total of about $10 million.
Whether plans will go forward depends now on whether the Grant County Council decides to finance them. The council met Monday with commissioners and members of the public many of which said the courthouse is secure enough and asked the council to not spend more tax dollars on a new building. The council will meet Tuesday in an executive session, which is closed to the public, to discuss courthouse security.
Several council members said they cannot discuss core issues of security in the public because it could lead to more security problems.
"If you're a banker, you don't ever want to tell somebody how to come and rob your bank, do you?" Councilman Larry Wilson said.
"There are some security issues that are not being brought out into the open because of security concerns ... that are probably more severe and worrisome than the issues that were addressed," Councilman Dan Brock said. * * *
Still, there are some areas where the courthouse may not be as secure as it could be, Himelick said.
A proposed list of minimum standards for all Indiana courthouses may be passed in the near future by the Indiana Supreme Court, said County Clerk Mark Florence.
The standards include a list of standards all current courthouses need to meet, plus several items that contribute to security in any new buildings.
Florence said whether the court will pass the guidelines seems to depend on whether they can secure money for county courthouses to become compliant.
"The (Supreme) Court does not want to give counties another unfunded mandate," Florence said.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 14, 2008 06:51 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts