Kentucky

From the Williamson Daily News on the new Pike County Courthouse and property formerly owned by Justice Will T. Scott:

Making way for progress?

Williamson Daily News

Some of the controversy surrounding the new courthouse is centered on the site on which it will be built. That property is owned by Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Will T. Scott. The planned site takes up roughly 60,000 square feet of land and includes nine properties.

PIKEVILLE, KY ? The wrecking ball is swinging to make room for a new Judicial Center in Pikeville, with construction set to begin despite criticism from several directions.



Second Street in Pikeville will be closed from Pike Street to Division Street Monday, Feb. 15, to all vehicle and pedestrian traffic due to the demolition. Pike Street will remain open and Second Street can still be accessed from Division Street. If demolition is not finished Monday, the street will remain closed Wednesday, Feb. 16.



The new courthouse is one of 70 in the commonwealth that have been authorized, begun construction or completed since 1998. Pike County?s new facility will replace the current Hall of Justice, which was built in 1992 at a cost of $7.3 million. The budget for the new 94,900 square foot building has been set at $28.4 million.



Some of the controversy surrounding the new courthouse is centered on the site on which it will be built. That property is owned by Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Will T. Scott. The planned site takes up roughly 60,000 square feet of land and includes nine properties. Buildings on the block included the Pinson Hotel, Weddington Theater, Raccoon Auto sales, Pike County Artisan Center, law offices and a dry cleaner. Although the county has offered to buy the property, Scott has said he does not want to sell the properties, which means there is no conflict of interest.



Another issue is the preservation of the historic integrity of the city. Some of the buildings demolished for the new courthouse were considered historic, which has made the project controversial in Pikeville. At least one of them dates from the 1880s.



Paying for the building (BOX?)



The procedure for putting funding in place for projects in Kentucky starts each budget session, when the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) presents the General Assembly with a list of projects. The projects are chosen in order of need. The AOC sets guidelines for the buildings. With formulas that use population projections and court docket sizes, the office decides how big every courtroom, office and lobby should be and how much it should cost to build them. New justice centers must have at least on circuit courtroom, a district courtroom and a family courtroom.



The Kentucky General Assembly authorized building a new Pike County Judicial Center in 2006 and approved its funding in 2008.



Once approved, the county then floats bond issues for the amount approved for the new building. The AOC then pays the annual debt service on those bonds. The AOC pays the county rent for its employees to use the building, and that money is used to pay off the debt. When the debt is paid off, the county owns the building.



The AOC pays for utilities and operations of the building.



For the final $28,413,000 price tag for Pike County?s new courthouse, the annual rent will be $2,545,000, or $433 per county resident. Size of the building has been broken down to 1.4 square feet for each person in Pike County.



OLD COURTHOUSE RELATIVELY NEW



The age of the old courthouse, the Hall of Justice, has another point of contention in the plans for the new building. Former governor Paul Patton was Pike County Judge Executive when the old courthouse was built in 1992. In 2008, Patton said the old building was under funded when it was built, causing the current need for a new facility, that the budget was not sufficient to pay for a HVAC unit, much less an entire courthouse. He said the new courthouse would be ?Structurally sound enough to last 100 years.?



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There are judicial centers under various stages of development throughout Kentucky. Each Judicial Center Project page will provide expenditure reports, Project Development Board meeting minutes and schedules, photos and other information so that you can track the progress on new judicial centers. The Judicial Center Project pages are under construction and information will be added as it becomes available. The information is online at courts.ky.gov/courthousegalleries.