GAINESVILLE – The Hall County Commission heard some good news about recent activity in the judicial arm of county at their work session last week.
“The building wasn’t really good for anything except a probation office,” Reggie Forrester told commissioners at their work session Tuesday, “and that was exactly what we needed.”
“It was a marriage that just came right to us, and we were ready for it,” Forrester added with a subtle smile of enthusiasm.
Reggie Forrester is Court Administrator for the Northeastern Judicial Circuit serving Hall and Dawson Counties; in the late 1990s he served as Hall County Administrator. Therefore, he is well-qualified to recognize a “good deal” for both sides regarding a recent transaction involving the county and the court system.
The transaction Forrester described to commissioners allowed Hall County Probation Services to move out of an over-crowded situation and into a spacious new location.
The over-crowded situation had developed on Browns Bridge Road at the Judicial Services Building (JAS), less than a quarter mile away from the new building Forrester was describing, and was getting more desperate each year.
JAS also houses Hall County Treatment Services; for half-a-decade both Probation Services and Treatment Services shared the site.
“When we took probation over in June five years ago (2012) we had about 1450 probationers; as of today we’ve got about 3200 probationers…we were just running over.”
“We thought at the time that… we’d probably be good for ten years and here we are at five years and we’ve got people almost out on the sidewalk,” Forrester said.
“And,” Forrester described, “Treatment Services continues to grow. The building was so full that they’ve been having counseling sessions off campus.”
Something needed to be done.
Then, Forrester said, his office discovered a vacant 6200-square feet building at 2314 Murphy Boulevard. It had housed probation services for the state until they moved to a new location several years ago.
“We saw this building for sale…the original asking price was $600,000. (Later) we saw a sign outside that said ‘Make an Offer’. So with your permission…we had an official appraisal done on that building.”
“It came back at $420,000. We made that offer to the owner in Athens; he accepted that.”
No time was wasted preparing the new site for Probation Services’ arrival. That happened this month. “We’ve already moved in; it’s working beautifully. It’s good for us.”
And now, Forrester added, Treatment Services has room to expand at the Judicial Services Building on Browns Bridge Road.
“It’s been great for the courts. It’s been good for everybody concerned.”
