Shawnee County celebrates courthouse rededication after renovation that kept operations open

Shawnee County officials marked a rededication of the county courthouse following a renovation that county staff said proceeded without closing the building to the public and that serves about 3,000 people each day.

County staff described the work as a complex project carried out while daily court and county functions continued. "There are approximately, I think, 3,000 people that go through this courthouse every day," said Speaker 1, a Shawnee County staff member. "This building, I don't think we have really shut down operations at all during this renovation. And so it's it's pretty miraculous that we were able to do that."

The courthouse houses multiple county functions. "It also housed the sheriff's office, the county commission, information technology, audit finance, all of those departments and the appraiser's office. And so the county counselor as well," said Speaker 3, a Shawnee County staff member, describing the building's evolving role. Officials said judges were temporarily relocated during renovation; some were moved to the sub-basement, which staff described as originally designed to be an atomic fallout shelter. "On the whiteboard, some of the judges would write days in captivity. They kept a little hash mark until they were able to move back up to their courtroom," Speaker 3 said.

Speakers at the event also credited construction and facilities teams and named several staff and contractors. "I'd like to thank all the staff for putting up with the inconvenience, but they were troopers," said Speaker 2, a Shawnee County staff member, and thanked contractors and consultants by name, including Cenny Construction, Zach, HTK, Sydney, McElroy's and others. The remarks also acknowledged a facilities team that services county buildings and individuals identified only by first name, such as Nelda and Zach.

Officials said the renovation coincided with progress on a backlog of court cases following the COVID-19 pandemic. "And I believe during that process, the backlog from COVID has also been chipped away at significantly, because there was a backlog of cases that the courts were trying to catch up on," Speaker 1 said.

Speakers provided a brief history of the courthouse: the original county courthouse was built in Tecumseh in 1855, and early county leaders used rent proceeds for small infrastructure improvements such as fencing. The rededication event chiefly consisted of remarks of thanks and historical notes; no formal votes or motions were recorded in the available transcript.

The event closed with continued thanks to staff and contractors for completing a project that staff described as "really tough" to execute while maintaining day-to-day services.