Look Ahead: Florence County watches economy while weighing options for judicial facilities

Florence County Council is waiting on a revised set of options for building new judicial facilities at a cost the county can afford, councilman James Schofield said.

Council’s goal is “to solve the crisis situation, but to do it as economically as we can,” Schofield said.

The county already faces several additional upcoming construction projects, including new branch libraries, a Pamplico EMS station and possibly a new voter registration building, council Chairman K.G. Rusty Smith said.

“With the current economic condition, we’re taking a very prudent approach. ... We want to ensure we’re going to do what’s in the best interest of the taxpayers,” Smith said.

Council members in August received a report including three options for building new court facilities.

But within the coming month, they could receive a set of new options being developed by Florence County Administrator Richard Starks and Southern Management Group’s Tom Baldwin, who worked on the initial report, Schofield said.

The county’s courtrooms are on the top floors of the 11th floor Florence City-County Complex.

The options presented in August were:
• A free-standing facility at a new site ($41 million)
• A court annex ($37.3 million)
• Criminal court at the Effingham jail ($21.8 million)

The third option was unpopular among several county officials as well as lawyers and judges.

Smith said there’s no plan to move the court facilities outside Florence, the county seat.

“That never was the case,” he said.

S.C. Court of Appeals Judge Ralph King Anderson, an advocate of a freestanding judicial facility, said he expects “substantial” action by council in 2009 because the need for a safer facility is urgent.

“That’s a very positive development, and (Smith’s) statement has a great deal of efficacy in regard to the ultimate construction of the building,” Anderson said.

Next month, Anderson will return to trying criminal and civil cases as chief administrative judge for South Carolina’s 12th Judicial Circuit.

He has expressed concerns because judges, witnesses and county residents handling day-to-day business ride the same elevators as criminal defendants at the city-county complex.

Moving the courthouse from Florence, the county seat, would be no easy task. It would require a petition signed by a third of the county’s registered voters and filed with the governor.

The county also must hold a vote on moving the courthouse, which requires approval of two-thirds of participating voters.

Several local officials and attorneys said earlier this year they think the best site for a new Florence County judicial center sits across South Irby Street from the city-county complex.

Such an option wasn’t among the proposals revealed in August.

What’s next?

Florence County Council members say they hope to find a safe but economically sound solution to the county’s need for new court facilities. Councilman James Schofield said he thinks council could receive revised judicial center options within the coming month.