The judges at the Cole County Courthouse have told county commissioners they don't need a replica of the current large courtroom in the county courthouse, they need something larger if they want to handle the current and potential future needs of the courts.
This comes as commissioners look at the possibility of putting a 2,200-square-foot courtroom in the old sheriff's house and county jail.
In a letter to the commission, Judge Jon Beetem, writing on behalf of himself and Presiding Judge Pat Joyce, said the immediate need is for a courtroom that provides gallery seating for 100 to expedite jury selection for long trials. It should also have Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility for witnesses, lawyers, defendants and jurors.
Beetem said the existing large courtroom can handle only 74 potential jurors with the addition of folding chairs.
He said this courtroom is used for large dockets of criminal and juvenile court cases that frequently will have 75 or more cases, which interferes with its use for jury selection.
"While recent national trends suggest a decline in jury trials, Cole County seems to be bucking the trend," Beetem wrote. "While we do not have the ability to select two juries at the same time, we have conducted overlapping jury trials on at least three occasions in the last six months, when this had not happened in the last five years. Most of these are not simple one-day trials, but complex multi-day trials with multiple parties."
Commissioners on Thursday heard more ideas from Architects Alliance on whether a large courtroom could go into the buildings, keeping the outside facade of the two buildings. Many residents have told commissioners they want to keep the buildings up and not have them torn down because of their historic nature.
Based on the letter from the judges, officials from Architects Alliance said they could barely get a courtroom similar to the large courtroom in the courthouse in the area available in the two old structures.
"We hadn't seen this letter until today," said Cary Gampher with Architects Alliance. "I think you could keep the front of the sheriff's house for an entrance, but you probably would have to get rid of the old jail and probably go back into some of the parking area behind the jail, to the east, to get that size of a courtroom and other amenities."
Commissioners asked Court Administrator John Riley to get with the judges to see if they can meet on April 1 about their needs for a courtroom.
"We are encountering additional problems like exclusion of the public from a constitutionally required public criminal trial because we need the seats for jury selection," Beetem added in his letter. "Defendants sit within arms reach of all parties as well as the families of the victims, creating an additional security risk."
Presiding Commissioner Marc Ellinger asked Gampher and his associates to continue to look at if tearing down the two buildings would still be a viable option, but noted costs are still going to be a factor in his decision.
"If we're looking at something in the $2 million or $2.5 million range, I don't see it as an option," he said. "We've already ruled out earlier ideas that did not include a courtroom in these buildings and now these plans may not work either."
Commissioners had said they would use money from county reserves, which at last reports showed a total of $7 million, to pay for the work.
"I think we do need to keep in mind that we started this to look at all our facilities and not just two buildings," said Western District Commissioner Kris Scheperle. "We could do this in phases and let other commissioners work on projects in the future."
"We can't ignore the outcry from those that want to save these buildings," said Eastern District Commissioner Jeff Hoelscher. "I'll continue to pin people down about questions I have until I get some answers."
Commissioners are still aiming to make a final decision on what to do with the two buildings by April 16.