Facilities director outlines 'bridge' to address 43,000 sq ft shortage at county facilities, prioritizes courthouse moves

Fred Durham, director of facilities, told commissioners that the county faces a near-term shortfall in office and courthouse space and proposed a "bridge" approach to fill gaps until the longer-term Facilities Master Plan or a follow-up road map can be implemented.

Durham cited consultant data and his analysis showing the county is approximately 43,000 square feet short of consultant standards now, with courts and criminal-justice departments singled out as particularly short (tens of thousands of square feet). He proposed near-term moves that would create modest space gains quickly: relocating controllers to the historic jail's first floor, moving finance to the second floor of the jail, consolidating probation into a single office footprint, and using Allen Road (including parts of the archives/Ag Extension site) for tax assessment, GIS and related units. Durham emphasized digitization and hybrid-work adjustments as key levers for lowering space needs.

Durham recommended engaging courts (including Judge Maslin) and the sheriff to define court-specific needs (one possibility discussed was the potential addition of an eighth or ninth judge and associated space requirements), and he urged a cautious approach to spending on major renovations. He presented a staged timeline: midsummer for controller/finance/district-attorney moves, into the fall for CASA and related transitions, and later for Allen Road moves, and observed there may be grant-funded work planned for the historic courthouse that would benefit from temporarily vacating the building.

Commissioners thanked Durham for a granular plan focused on short-term, lower-cost moves; they stressed that departments will need to accept some spaces "as is" to control costs and that coordination with courts and the sheriff will be critical to any final configuration.