JUDGES PREFERRED NEW FACILITY
The Platte County Commission approved a plan for specific renovations to the Platte County Courthouse.
Approval came at a commission meeting on March 4.
Some of the judges working inside the courthouse have challenged the proposal to renovate the courthouse in recent months. The plan approved by the commission sets out select improvements to be made in the building. It also directs the county’s architect to prepare plans for potential extra improvements if funding allows work beyond the base plan.
“I am committed to keeping the Platte County Courthouse adequate for the courts for decades to come,” said Joe Vanover, district two county commissioner, who is a practicing attorney. “The building is structurally sound and is large enough to house our new judge and another one or two judges in the future.”
The improvements to the courthouse will be funded with federal money received through the American Rescue Plan Act that was adopted in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Shortly after Congress approved the funding in March 2020, Vanover started and led a group that began the process of finding ways to spend the money to make the county governmental buildings and operations better suited for modern business methods.
Vanover added that the renovations to the courthouse could cost between $2 million to $3 million.
“We will have to wait and see just how much we can spend on the courthouse,” Vanover said. The actual cost of the work will not be known until later this year, he said.
The base plan of improvements includes: constructing a sixth courtroom that could be used for jury trials on the second floor, upgrading a bathroom used by juries to make it ADA accessible, removing an unused jury box from the Division 3 courtroom, expanding the Division 4 courtroom to include a small room that was intended as a jury deliberation room during the renovation to the courthouse in the late 1970’s, substantial improvements to the front lobby to make it more secure and easier for people to enter the building, and moving certain court clerks and staff to the third floor.
The third floor of the courthouse will be vacated soon when members of the prosecuting attorney’s office move to another location.
The commission directed the county architect to draw construction plans for additional work that may be approved at a later date. The potential additional work includes: expansion of the Division 2 courtroom which has been used for jury trials since the late 1970’s, moving more staff offices to the third floor, creating additional conference rooms and another security office on the second floor.
“Building an entirely new courthouse would cost a tremendous amount of money. There is no need for us to move out of the current courthouse,” commented Vanover.
Former Presiding Judge Thomas Fincham and current Presiding Judge W. Ann Hansbrough have argued that a new courthouse outside of Downtown Platte City should be built.
Vanover added, “We have enough space to expand within the courthouse. However our jail is out of space. The jail situation is a much higher priority need that must be addressed very soon.”
A public vote to approve bonds to build a jail expansion is expected in August or November of this year.
“We listened to the judges over the last several months, and we did not always agree,” Vanover said. “We cannot give them everything they want, but this plan will serve the people of Platte County for years to come.”
Vanover has been an attorney in Platte County for 25 years. He was elected as a county commissioner in 2020 and works part time in both roles. He said he plans to continue to use the courthouse as an attorney for another 25 years.