Tyler

By CASEY KNAUPP
Staff Writer

Smith County judges met with commissioners Monday and discussed the needs for the overcrowded courthouse.

Smith County Judge Joel Baker gave a presentation to the judges on the county’s first phase of long-range planning for the county facilities, which looks at the deficiencies in all county buildings, including the courthouse.

The only new construction in the plan would be expanding the central and low risk jails. The crumbling Smith County office building would be vacated and the offices moved into the courthouse and the courthouse annex. Renovations would be made to the courthouse, allowing for more room with the renovation of the fifth and sixth floors and the addition of new courtrooms, he said.

A new courts building will not be part of phase one, Baker said.

Judge Kerry Russell, of the 7th District Court, said he was surprised to learn earlier this month that the commissioners were planning a renovation project for the courthouse that was similar to one started but left unfinished years ago.

He said construction, which disrupts jury trials, would create huge scheduling problems for the judges, but Baker said the construction could be done at night.
Russell said the county has been in long need of a new court facility.

Baker said it’s a matter of prioritizing and balancing the county’s needs. The last failed bond election included new courtrooms along with a new jail. He said he’d love to see a new courthouse, but he doesn’t believe county citizens would support it now.

Judge Carole Clark, of the 321st District Court, said plans for a new courtroom in the basement of the courthouse would be dangerous. Her court was housed there for a year while a new court was being built for her.

“No judge would be safe in the basement,” she said, citing space and access constraints.

Judge Clark said the employees in the Smith County office building should all be moved to the courthouse, which would be used strictly for offices, and a new courthouse should be constructed. She said it would be cheaper to build a new courthouse than a new jail.

Baker said a new courthouse would not be cheaper than a jail, according to an architect, and a new courthouse would not solve the jail overcrowding problem, as Judge Clark suggested.

He said it would cost at least $10 million for a new courts building.

Baker said commissioners plan to have added courts created by the legislator in the coming years.

Commissioner JoAnn Fleming said the court had to come up with solutions in stages and it was time to get the employees out of the county’s office building, which was in “horrible conditions.” She said she supported Baker in his remodeling efforts and said plans had been started many times in the past but never finished.

“We’ve got to get something going,” she said. “We’ve been talking for years without anything happening.”

Commissioner JoAnn Hampton said the jail overcrowding problem is not unique to Smith County and 25 jails are currently under construction in Texas.

Baker said nothing was set in stone other than the county’s goal and the commissioners were open to ongoing suggestions from the judges. He said commissioners would meet again Monday to discuss the long-range plan further.
District Judge Jack Skeen Jr., County Court-at-Law judges Floyd Getz, Tom Dunn and Randall Rogers and commissioners Bobby Van Ness and Bill McGinnis were also present during the meeting. District Judge Cynthia Stevens Kent was not present.