Cass County commissioner asks lawmakers to consider ways to recover county costs for court facilities

Tony Greenberg, chairman of the Cass County Commission, asked the Appropriations - Education and Environment Division to consider legislative options that would help counties recover costs associated with court facilities that counties currently provide to the state court system without reimbursement.

Greenberg said Cass County provides roughly 63,000 square feet to the court system and that the county has operated without reimbursement for utilities, janitorial and similar operating costs. He said the county decided to add another secure courtroom after more than a year of discussion about the taxpayers’ interests and differing judicial opinions on need; he told the committee contracts for that work would be awarded Monday and that the expense would fall to Cass County taxpayers (amount reported in testimony as “about $110,000,0.0”).

Greenberg said attempts over the past 10 to 20 years to recover courtroom operating costs have not advanced, and he asked the committee to consider a statutory or appropriation remedy that would allow counties to seek partial recovery. He said Cass County is pursuing internal efficiency measures—repurposing vacant space in the West Annex and renovating existing areas—to avoid building a new $80 million court facility, and suggested legislative action should start with counties that have eight or more courtrooms.

A committee member asked whether the county intends to seek the full cost; Greenberg replied the county would apply for a portion and is “not opposed” to other counties applying as well. The committee did not adopt any statutory change during the hearing; Greenberg’s remarks were presented for the committee’s consideration in budget and facilities policy discussions.