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Carroll County moves to begin courthouse renovation planning; filing-fee changes proposed to fund courthouse projects
Summary
Officials described steps to engage architects and engineers for courthouse renovations and outlined proposed court-filing fee increases to finance courthouse projects; the transcript records motions but not final votes.
Carroll County Fiscal Court members discussed starting the infrastructure and renovation phase for courthouse projects and reviewed proposed increases to court filing fees to support courthouse facilities and related costs; the meeting date is not specified in the transcript.
County staff said the next step is to engage professional services (an architect/engineer) to assess windows, roofing and other needs across courthouse buildings, then return to the fiscal court with cost and timeline estimates. Staff projected beginning the professional-services work quickly and expected to move a contract forward “probably in July,” subject to the court’s later approval. The transcript does not record a final contract award.
Separately, the court heard language describing added filing fees and court costs intended to fund courthouse construction, renovation and related expenses. The transcript lists the following fee changes as presented: add $10 to court costs on traffic offenses; add $10 to filing fees on civil appeals and certain probate matters; add $20 to court costs in misdemeanor cases; add $10 to small-claims final fees; add $10 to district balance fees; and charge an additional $10 for each subpoena served. The presenter also described that the collected funds would be remitted to the county board (transcript phrasing) and used exclusively for courthouse facility projects, bond payments and related administrative expenses.
An auditor requested renewal of the existing ordinance that governs the fee collection; the transcript references a prior ordinance identified as “ordinance number o 2.053” and states that conflicting portions of prior ordinances would be repealed to the extent of the conflict. A motion to proceed with renewing the ordinance was indicated in the record, but the transcript does not include a vote count or explicit indication that the court approved the ordinance during this meeting.
Ending: Staff said they will return with architect/engineer assessments and cost estimates before advancing any construction contract and that the court will separately consider any ordinance changes required to collect or allocate the filing-fee revenue. The transcript does not record final legislative action on the fee ordinance.
