County releases courthouse-space study; AECOM recommends downtown Inverness judicial complex and staged moves

Citrus County staff and AECOM consultants presented a space-needs assessment Tuesday that maps office needs, proposes a downtown judicial complex and outlines short-term moves to free up courthouse space.

Lede: AECOM’s yearlong study recommends consolidating judicial and county administrative functions in a coordinated downtown courthouse complex, while moving select court-support offices in the near term to the Coca-Cola building and leased space in Inverness to reduce overcrowding and improve security.

Nut graf: The report, intended as a long-range blueprint, offers short-term staging — moving Clerk’s IT and the public defender to nearby space, leasing roughly 5,100 square feet in the City of Inverness for commissioners and county legal staff, and a multi-decade option to develop a consolidated courthouse complex — with high-level cost estimates and program standards for planning.

Details: Carlton Hall, county public-works director, told the board staff already produced vetted plans for courtroom space on the courthouse second floor, and that moving some stakeholders to the Coca-Cola building will allow reconfiguration. “We’ve produced a floor plan. We vetted that floor plan with the judicial. The judges have looked at it,” Hall said. He asked the board to authorize lease-negotiation authority for city-owned space that would provide near-term secure office space for commissioners and county legal staff.

AECOM’s findings: Jake Devost of AECOM summarized the firm’s process, which included stakeholder interviews, site visits of government facilities at Lecanto, Inverness and Meadowcrest, and development of workplace standards. The consultant proposed strategic pillars — secure, streamline, standardize, optimize — and explored scenarios for a new courthouse complex that would preserve public access, add parking and incorporate the Coca-Cola building. Devost presented high-level cost matrices and advised the county to treat the study as a living document for phased implementation.

Commissioner reaction: Commissioners debated costs and timing. Commissioner Janet Barrett recalled a prior price estimate for a new courthouse of about $70 million and urged careful use of existing buildings. Commissioner Diana Finnegan said she appreciated staff’s early work but suggested the report did not yet show sufficient efficiency or savings to justify some of the numbers. Staff said a workshop will follow to dive into the study, and that constitutional officers and stakeholders will be asked to review the materials before the board takes further action.

Next steps: Staff said they will schedule a workshop and circulate the full report to constitutional officers and stakeholders. Lease terms for immediate moves will return for board approval, and any new capital project would require further design, public vetting and appropriation.

Ending: Commissioners praised the intergovernmental cooperation with the city of Inverness and asked staff to bring back a workshop that includes cost, timing and options for staged consolidation or sale of surplus properties to offset costs.