BENTONVILLE -- Benton County officials remain divided on where to put a courts building and how any new building should be designed.
Officials were briefed Thursday on work done so far by consultants on a courts building, including site locations and building design. The consultants on the project -- Perkowitz, Ruth, Cromwell and Dewberry -- reported to the justices of the peace, circuit judges, other elected officials and members of the public in the first of three public workshops scheduled as part of the consultant's work.
A basic design decision was a major point of contention as circuit judges tried to explain their preference for having chambers in close to courtrooms, rather than have them on separate floors as some options showed. Joel Jones, justice of the peace for District 7 and chairman of the Public Safety Committee, argued the design separating the courtroom and chambers was more functional and allowed more room for expansion. Jones said the county can't build based solely on the operating methods of the judges.
"That's going to be a huge question," Jones told the consultants. "Yes, they're the end users, but they're not always going to be the end users. Saying 'Because we've always done it that way' isn't going to cut it. We ask that about county procedures every other month."
Circuit judges Doug Schrantz and John Scott tried to give Jones concrete examples of how Benton County's courts operate and why they need courtrooms and chambers as closely linked as possible. Both men said they constantly move between the courtroom and their chambers to keep courts operating as smoothly and efficiently as possible.
"I was up and down between my bench and my chambers 20 times today," Scott said. "Does that answer your question?"
Schrantz and Scott also said judges need to have access to their chambers to facilitate discussions with lawyers that can't occur in the courtroom or to be able to shift between the spaces. Scott said he had two witnesses in court Thursday who lost their composure and needed a recess, which he allowed. Schrantz said he had a juvenile witness who was struggling to testify and he moved the hearing into his chambers to allow the witness to testify in a less stressful situation.
When Jones suggested conference rooms and jury rooms could serve the same purposes as a judge's chambers, both men responded immediately.
"That's where our stuff is," they said in unison.
Schrantz said the idea of separating judges chambers from their courtrooms would hamper his court's operations.
"It isn't efficient," he said.
Other issues discussed Thursday included demolition of the old post office now used by Circuit Judge Brad Karren as a courtroom and chambers. The consultants provided options showing a new building tied the old post office, a new building surrounding the old post office and using the entire block with the old post office demolished.
Susan Anglin, justice of the peace for District 9, said she wouldn't favor demolition of the old post office building.
"It has a lot of history and there are a lot of people who don't want to see it demolished," Anglin said.
Jay Allen, with the Walton Family Foundation, added the recent demolition of a number of older houses in the downtown area has raised the awareness of people about preserving structures.
"It would definitely draw a lot of criticism," Allen said.
Schrantz disagreed with the arguments for labeling the post office as an historic structure.
"Will somebody please tell me what night George Washington slept there?" Schrantz said.
Shirley Sandlin, justice of the peace for District 8, said she has many memories of the old post office, having helped renovate the building for use by the Assessor's Office when she served in that position. Sandlin said she wouldn't argue for keeping the old post office but would rather focus on keeping the county courthouse intact and in use.
"It does not make sense to make that our sacred cow," Sandlin said. "As long as we keep the courthouse itself and use it to it's best advantage. I can't see us sacrificing our best use of the courthouse for that."
Benton County has been considering a building to house circuit courts and related offices for several years. A study in January 2014 identified three sites for a building. One site is on Northeast Second Street in downtown Bentonville, across the street from the county courthouse. The second downtown location uses the site of the old jail and space between the courthouse and the County Administration Building. The location on Southwest 14th Street uses county land near the Road Department and jail.
What's next
Benton County has a second public workshop on the courts building project set for 6 p.m. Oct. 4 in the Quorum Courtroom of the County Administration Building, 215 E.Central Ave. in Bentonville.
Source: Staff report
General News on 09/21/2016