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Residents urge county to rebuild Gant magistrate court and address courthouse security
Summary
Public commenters told Greenville County Council the Gant magistrate court is housed in an unsalvageable trailer, lacks security, and serves a predominantly Black neighborhood; the county administrator said the facility is not salvageable and described a long-running plan to replace magistrate offices.
Two public commenters raised safety and equity concerns about magistrate court facilities during public comment at the Greenville County Council meeting.
Audrey Passen said she visits magistrate courthouses and is concerned that some locations lack metal detectors and uniformed officers. She described forthcoming attendance at a landlord–tenant hearing where she feared another participant might be armed and urged the council to place uniformed officers or metal detectors in magistrate courthouses to make visitors feel safe.
Derek Qualls described the Gant magistrate court as housed in a trailer on White Road for more than 25 years and said its condition exposes staff and judges to chemicals and fumes from repeated repair work. Qualls said Gant serves more than 15,000 residents and that 51.5% of the area’s population is Black, and he urged the council not to close Gant and move cases elsewhere but to rebuild the court in place. "The Gant community does not want the court closed. We want it rebuilt," Qualls said.
In the administrator’s report, the county administrator acknowledged the county’s multi-year program (begun about 2008) to replace scattered, substandard magistrate offices with consolidated, modern facilities. The administrator said the county has built replacement facilities in Travelers Rest, Wade Hampton, Simpsonville and a downtown location, and said the Gant structure is "basically a double wide triple wide facility that is not salvageable." He said decisions are being coordinated with the chief magistrate judge about where magistrates will be located going forward.
Why it matters: Magistrate courts handle landlord–tenant, small-claims, and summary cases that bring members of the public into the justice system; facility safety, security equipment, and equitable access affect both public confidence and staff working conditions. The Gant facility’s condition and its location in a majority-Black neighborhood raised both human-safety and equity concerns among speakers.
Next steps: The administrator said the county has a history of replacing magistrate offices and is working with the chief magistrate judge on placements; no final funding or construction decision for Gant was recorded in the transcript.
