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Commissioner proposes scaling back new verdict center, repurposing county building for courts and elections
Summary
A commissioner proposed cutting $2 million from the planned verdict center and reconfiguring an existing county-owned building to add courtroom capacity, election operations and JP space; judges and elections staff described operational constraints that make immediate short-term fixes necessary.
A commissioner told Kendall County’s special meeting on Aug. 10 that the county can meet courtroom, elections and JP needs by modifying a county-owned building rather than completing a full new ‘‘verdict center’’ buildout.
“That’s the box. That’s what we’re gonna have to design for… I’m gonna propose to cut this $2,000,000,” the commissioner said, proposing reduced finishes and design choices so the project fits a $4 million design budget. The proposal was framed as solving three problems at once: additional courtroom capacity (including space for 12-person juries), secure election operations and flexible space for JP offices.
Judicial stakeholders urged the court to act quickly on short-term remedies even while planning a longer-term justice-center solution. One participant said visiting judges have been required to use alternate courtrooms 21 times since October and that the current courthouse cannot reliably host two large criminal dockets simultaneously. Election staff underscored recent changes in state law that compress post-early-voting staging and equipment handling into a tighter timeframe, saying the current space impairs secure and efficient operations.
Commissioners asked staff to redesign the scope to fit around a $4M budget box and to identify immediate cuts that could be made without undermining courtroom function. The court agreed to further design and follow-up with the facilities manager and the judges’ offices.
