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Crawford County to Reconfigure Law Library as Office Space for Newly Appointed Appeals Judge
Summary
County officials discussed minor renovations to the county judicial center’s law library to provide office space for Judge Fleming, who was recently appointed to the Kansas Court of Appeals; county staff said the work is a statutory county obligation and county-paid.
Crawford County commissioners discussed plans to reconfigure the law library at the county Judicial Center to provide office space for Judge Fleming, who was recently appointed to the Kansas Court of Appeals.
Mac Young, 11th Judicial District court administrator, told the commission that by statute an appointed appeals judge is entitled to maintain an office in the Judicial Center and that the county is responsible for providing that space. “That’s county obligation,” Young said.
Why it matters: the county must create usable office space before the new district court judge who will fill Fleming’s previous seat is appointed. Commissioners discussed a timeline tied to the judicial-appointment process: interviews are expected June 6, a recommendation to the governor by June 20, and the governor then has 60 days to name an appointee.
Commissioners and court staff described a low-cost, short-term approach: partitioning part of the law library to create approximately a 10-by-14-foot office, with a roughly 5-foot corridor along an existing bookcase wall. The group discussed installing a dividing wall about 8 feet inside the law library entrance and keeping through access to the remaining law-library space. Rebecca Keller, who has prepared drawings for county projects in the past, was identified as the person the county will ask to produce a simple plan for the partition.
Commissioners discussed plumbing and security implications. County staff said adding a restroom inside the new office would be more complex, likely requiring tapping existing plumbing near the current judge’s office and possibly more substantial work; they described that as a potential future project rather than something necessary for the initial partitioning. Young and other staff said the county would seek to do the work as economically as possible and determine whether parts of the work could be completed in-house or would require bidding.
What was not decided: no formal motion or vote was recorded at the meeting on a scope, contract, or budget for the renovation. Commissioners instructed staff to get a rendition/drawing from Keller and have county facilities (Robert Prince/Grentz referenced in discussion) review plans and cost estimates before requesting bids or scheduling work.
Background: Commissioners said Judge Fleming will not continue to try district-court cases after joining the Court of Appeals; Fleming is entitled to maintain an office in the Judicial Center under state statute, and the county must provide the space. The county expects to move Fleming into the temporary office until the new district judge occupies Fleming’s current district-court office.
