Hall County officials say discussions are underway on the potential construction of a new courthouse for the county.
The topic was discussed at the end of a meeting of the county's board of commissioners on February 27. District 3 Commissioner Gregg Poole says while the discussions are preliminary, it is something that is being looked at seriously by county officials.
"The talks are serious for us to be talking about it in a meeting, so you know they're serious," Poole recently told WDUN. "As everyone knows in Hall County, we're a growing county, so that means we're going to have more cases, more case logs and all that. That's what's driving it."
Hall County Courts Administrator Jason Stephenson agreed with Poole that space is the primary concern as the current courthouse on Green Street in downtown Gainesville.
"We're out of space," Stephenson said. "I started as court administrator five years ago, and that was really when we kicked off the conversation to say 'we're growing, Hall County is growing and we need to start proactively planning.'"
Poole said he has discussed the potential new courthouse with Hall County judicial officials to get feedback on what they would want to see included in a new facility. He also said the county has paid for a judicial study to determine some of the ways the facility should be designed.
"It would tell an architectural firm how to draw the building. It would tell you what is needed to separate the inmates from the judges so (the judges) can not have to be around people that they've just sent to the worst case scenario," Poole said.
District 2 Commissioner Billy Powell said that the project would be funded by Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) funds, which will be up for a vote in about a year and a half.
“We had that space study done, and the space study determined that we needed about 600,000-square-feet,” Powell said. “Much much larger than what we have now.”
Stephenson said that specific issue has been an ongoing concern with the current courthouse.
"Modern courthouses are built with three different traffic patterns, where you have the secured foot traffic for judges and their staff, then you have the public and then you have inmates. Ideally, the only place all three of those converge is inside a courtroom, with all separate entrances," Stephenson said. "The current courthouse wasn't designed with that in mind, so we've been retro-fitting, honestly for the last 20 years."
Poole, who works in construction, said one of his focuses with the new facility is to make sure it is built as cost-effectively as possible.
"In our line of work, in plumbing and electrical, and I've seen this in mechanical, I've seen this with generators, I've seen this with wall finishes, I've seen this with things that will not affect the functionality of the building. There are ways to save money," Poole said.
Poole and other commissioners discussed creating an advisory panel to examine cost-saving measures for the courthouse. No decision was made at the February 27 meeting, with discussions on the issue being postponed to a later date.
No location or projected cost for a new courthouse have been announced at this time. The current Hall County Courthouse in downtown Gainesville was built in 2002. Powell did add that they are looking at a 50-year life span for the next courthouse.
