Judge Ogden asks commissioners to accelerate $250,000 courthouse maintenance funding

Judge Ogden asked county officials on Sept. 1 to expedite access to $250,000 in courthouse maintenance funding so purchase orders can be issued and projects can begin before fiscal-year 2026 budgeting is finalized. The money, Ogden said, is allocated through the court fund and is reimbursed to the county as invoices are submitted.

The request came during a discussion of how the courthouse’s recurring $250,000 maintenance allocation has been handled in recent fiscal cycles. Ogden said the court has used the funds for carpeting, painting and other courtroom and chamber repairs and that historically the county prepaid those costs and was later reimbursed through the court fund.

County staff member Jessica reported that the specific courthouse maintenance line currently shows only a small unallocated balance and that $1,179 of the line is earmarked for digital signage. Jessica said the finance team plans to clean up multiple capital line items, consolidate unspent capital dollars into unallocated capital and then move funds into the courthouse maintenance line so the court can pre-fund projects.

Judge Ogden said some work cannot wait until October and asked for an interim transfer so purchase orders can be issued. “We need something sooner than October,” he said. He and staff noted an immediate short-term need of about $50,000 to start several priority projects and keep contractors on schedule; the remaining balance could follow after capital clean-up.

Commissioners at the table expressed no objection to Jessica placing an agenda item on Thursday’s budget-board meeting to transfer funds from identified capital lines into the courthouse maintenance account. Multiple commissioners indicated support for moving either a short interim amount (roughly $50,000) to start work or the full $250,000 if the capital cleanup yields sufficient unallocated funds.

Staff said they will prepare a budget-board agenda item to transfer capital dollars identified as closable into the courthouse maintenance line, and they will create the accounting entries needed so reimbursements from the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) can be recorded directly to the courthouse account in future cycles. No formal recorded vote was taken at the meeting; the exchange resulted in direction to staff to prepare the transfer for the budget board.

Background: The $250,000 courthouse maintenance allocation has been in place for multiple fiscal years and operates as a reimbursement-funded line: the county initially pays vendors, the court submits claims to the AOC, and the county is reimbursed. Participants said the goal is to create a separate fund flow so reimbursements post directly to the courthouse account and eliminate repeated intra-county transfers.

Next steps: Staff will (1) place a budget-board agenda item asking to transfer identified capital balances into the courthouse maintenance line so purchase orders can be issued immediately, and (2) continue the capital-line cleanup and accounting changes to route future court reimbursements directly into the courthouse fund so the pre-funding need is reduced.