Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

JPs Hear Courthouse Plans

Plans for the Clark County Courthouse were presented to the Clark County Quorum Court Monday night in a special meeting.

Jerry Simmons, with Twin River Architects, told the court of the proposed plans. He said the new addition will butt against the existing municipal building at the second floor, while there will be 60 feet of lawn space between the addition and the old courthouse.

There will be 12,000 square feet of usable floor space in the addition. It will include a courtroom downstairs for circuit cases, with a second courtroom upstairs for municipal cases. In some instances, Simmons said, two circuit cases can be heard simultaneously.

The addition, he told the justices, was designed to be in line with the current municipal building and courthouse. The main entrance will be at the south end of the structure, this is the same direction the handicap access to the existing courthouse faces.

The existing sidewalk from the 1899 courthouse to the municipal building will be left alone. This, Simmons said, is being done to leave easy access between the buildings.

On the first floor of the new structure, the lobby is larger than some of the justices thought necessary. However, Simmons said this was done at the request of the judges, so noise in the courtroom can be kept to a minimum.

Those not involved in cases will remain in the lobby, where there will be vending machines.

The rest of the rooms on the first floor will be secure from the public. People going in and out of the courtroom will have to pass through a metal detector for security purposes.

Simmons said security for those who work in the building was tantamount to the design.

He said the judges asked for a separate waiting area of the lobby as well. This was also done for security and privacy reasons.

The jury rooms for both courthouses will have unisex restrooms, along with small kitchen areas where coffee can be prepared for the jurors during breaks.

The second floor will also contain a lobby and courtroom, along with the jury room.

This courtroom will be able to hold 72 people, with a secure witness area and holding cell. The upstairs area will also make use of video surveillance and will have a meeting room for attorneys and their clients.

Downstairs, Simmons said, the offices were all designed along the north face of the structure so natural light can be utilized during the day.

These offices will have primarily glass walls.

When questioned as to the estimated cost, Simmons said it would be between $1.2 and $1.5 million. At $100 per square foot, he said, the cost would be $1.2 million.

The justices on hand gave Simmons the go ahead for the next phase of planning. This will be the mechanical part along with the exterior design.

The mechanical engineer, he said, will decide on the placement of the heating and air conditioning system.

Next on the agenda was a brief discussion on fire ant control. The justices approved $2,000 for the NRCS to purchase Amdro fire ant killer for resale to the public.

Rich Joslyn, with the NRCS, said his group can purchase the product at $9 per pound. The retail cost of the ant killer is about $11.25 per pound.

The ant killer will be sold to the public at the cost paid by the district.

When the fire ant control program ends, the money will be returned to the county.

Taylor King, the county's attorney, suggested Clark County Judge Grady Runyan include a letter with the check spelling out the terms of the agreement.

But, the main reason for the special meeting was not discussed.

This was an ordinance to get the county's ordinances better organized so they would be easier to find.

The problem was there weren't enough JPs on hand to pass the ordinance on the first reading. The court decided to table the ordinance until the regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, April 13.

Under the terms of the proposed ordinance, those ordinances already passed by this and previous courts would be organized and categorized.

Those ordinances found to be outdated or impossible to enforce can then be amended by the court as needed.