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Commissioners approve removing justice-court shell to reduce Morrow County courthouse costs
Summary
Design team and county staff proposed removing a justice-court shell from the new circuit courthouse project to cut about $2.5 million; commissioners approved the change.
County staff recommended removing the justice-court shell and associated square footage from the circuit courthouse design to reduce construction costs and bring the project under a $35 million target.
County Administrator Matt explained that the design team and staff had been pursuing value-engineering options to reduce cost and that the justice-court build-out had been identified as removable. He said he had spoken with Judge Dill, who “is very comfortable in remaining the historic courthouse as we go through this.” Matt told commissioners the change would eliminate approximately $2,500,000 of spending and help keep the overall budget below $35 million.
Matt said the justice-court area had expanded in earlier design iterations after temporary plans in one location became a larger justice-system setup, and that removing the space now avoids later reassignment of program space. After discussion, a commissioner moved to approve removing the justice-court portion from the circuit courthouse project; the motion was seconded and carried by voice vote.
Commissioners directed staff to continue value-engineering elsewhere and to coordinate scheduling and space needs among departments as the courthouse project proceeds.
