Senate Institutions reviews judiciary capital requests including backup generators and courthouse renovations

The Senate Committee on Institutions on April 15 heard about several judiciary capital requests affecting county courthouses, including two requests for backup generators, a multimillion-dollar renovation at White River Junction, and a connector/security project at the Essex County Courthouse.

Committee Chair Senator Wendy Harrison, who represents the Wyndham District, said the committee is reviewing five judicial capital projects listed in section 14 of the judiciary capital budget and noted one item had been dropped from the package. She emphasized existing state law that places responsibility on counties to provide and maintain courthouses and described a related proposed amendment to S.109 that would add county capital reserve fund levels as a criterion when evaluating capital requests.

Those presenting to the committee outlined four active courthouse projects in section 14: a request for a backup generator at the Windsor (Woodstock) county courthouse ($100,000); a large renovation project at White River Junction (variously discussed as $50 million and noted elsewhere in the hearing as an $8 million cash-fund appropriation for a phase of work); a connector and security upgrade at the Essex County Courthouse (discussed at roughly $3.7 million); and a backup power request for the…