Judge requests mechanical and environmental study of Miami County Courthouse; commissioners ask administrator to pursue analysis

Judge Hart told the Miami County Commission that the 1897 Miami County Courthouse shows recurring water, roof and climate-control failures and asked the commission to engage a firm to study the building’s mechanical, environmental, plumbing and structural systems.

Hart said problems have disrupted court business and public access. “I just do not know what’s wrong with the building,” she said, citing a preliminary-exam hearing where the upstairs courtroom was about 60 degrees and a later jury trial where jurors were fanning themselves. “We ask our community to resolve their disputes in a place that just has problems.”

The judge offered concrete examples: slate tiles and bricks have fallen from the roof; the casing around a judge’s window decayed and fell onto a desk in May; a staff office behind an elevator is so damaged a book was stuck to the floor; key-card access recently locked clerks out of offices; jurors and litigants have been forced to relocate hearings because courtrooms could not be cooled. Hart said the courthouse houses both county…