Houston County’s State Court SPLOST project would have broad impact

The largest item on the proposed special purpose sales tax in Houston County would have a wide ranging impact.

The tax referendum, which is up for a vote March 21, includes $10 million for a new State Court building. That would also give some much-needed new space to the sheriff’s department, the tax commissioner’s office and other departments, officials say.

The new State Court would be built on the north end of the main Houston County courthouse in Perry. It would give the court about twice the size of its current 10,216 square feet, including room for the clerk of court, solicitors office and probation office. It would also mean that prisoners would no longer have to be transported from the county jail, which is in the rear of the Perry courthouse.

The State Court is currently located adjacent to the County Annex building on Carl Vinson Parkway in Warner Robins. If the special purpose local option sales tax passes and the new State Court is built, it would touch off a domino effect.

The tax commissioner’s office would move from its cramped quarters in the annex to the front part of the State Court building, while the sheriff’s department would get additional office space in the back half of the building.

Sheriff Cullen Talton said ending prisoner transports would save a lot of money, reduce liability risks and improve security. He considers ending the prisoner transports to be equally as important as the additional space the sheriff’s department would get.

Tax Commissioner Mark Kushinka said his department and other offices in the annex are greatly in need of more space. Once his office is vacated, then the other offices in the building will be reconfigured so that most should be getting additional space as a result.

“We are on top of each other,” Kushinka said. “All of the offices around me are cramped.”

One key advantage of the new building, he said, is that it would open the opportunity to put in a drive-thru window. That can’t be done at the current location. He also hopes to add a kiosk that people could walk up to and make a card payment for vehicle tag renewals. The machine would dispense the person’s new sticker and registration.

It’ll take time

But even if the SPLOST is passed, relief is likely years away. Commission Chairman Tommy Stalnaker said he expects design work on the new State Court building would start immediately if the SPLOST passes, but construction may not start until early 2019. He expected construction would take a year and a half, then renovation work would have to be done to the existing State Court building. He estimated it could be five years before the tax commissioner’s office is able to move into the new space.

Another cost savings, Stalnaker said, is that currently the sheriff’s department has to provide security teams for both the Superior Court and State Court. With the courts together, people could enter through the same security check point.

He also said the addition to the Perry courthouse would not disrupt its aesthetics. The building was designed with such a future addition in mind, he said. The addition will be two stories, identical in the design of the rest of the courthouse, and it would not look like an addition, but will blend in with the rest of the building, he said.

State Court Judge Jason Ashford said the move would eliminate another big problem, which is jurors and witnesses showing up to the wrong courthouse.

“We see the confusion on a almost daily basis,” he said. “We are pretty unusual in that we have trial courts separated by 20 minutes. Most counties aren’t like that.”

There are some disadvantages to the move, he noted. One is that there are some attorneys offices around the State Court that are there primarily to be near the State Court. Also, people on the northern end of the county will have further to drive to take care of a court matter.

“The advantages far outweigh the disadvantages,” Ashford said. “The bottom line is, we don’t have any room to expand here. As Houston County grows in population we are going to require more courtroom and more space and we just don’t have the ability to expand here.”

The proposed SPLOST aims for $145 million to be collected over six years. Road projects make up the largest portion, followed by recreation, public safety and other areas. Go to www.houstoncountyga.com for a full list of the projects.

This story was originally published January 2, 2017 at 11:46 AM with the headline "Houston County’s State Court SPLOST project would have broad impact."