Brevard commissioners approve $6.1 million overhaul of Moore Justice Center in Viera
Brevard County's primary courthouse is poised for a major overhaul to be able to handle an increase in cases. The Board of County Commissioners Tuesday voted to move forward with the plan for the Harry T. Moore Justice Center, which could lead to a major reorganization of the courthouse and cost $6.1 million.
County commissioners voted unanimously in support Tuesday.
Although the project is technically an expansion, it will take place using space already within the courthouse as the law library will become largely consolidated online to make space for necessary courtrooms.
1"We all agreed from a safety perspective and a long-term perspective that option two would be a better option," county manager Frank Abbate told commissioners Tuesday. "We are prepared to obtain the additional funding if necessary."
Two options were considered by the Commission Tuesday with a less expansive and expensive $5.1 million choice being rejected in favor of a second larger overhaul. Option two includes adding one larger courtroom to the Justice Center rather than two smaller hearing rooms. It includes:
Additional room for jury assembly accommodating 275 people
New 700-square-foot hearing room
New 1,500-square-foot courtroom
Law library consolidation
According the firm Silling Architects, option two is expected to take 22 months to complete. The total cost of the project is estimated at $6.144 million. District 4 Commissioner Rob Feltner said that the more expensive option would be the wiser choice for long-term planning in the county's interests.
"This all started because we received $5.5 million from legislature for upgrades to the Moore Justice Center. We've tried to stay within that budget. A lot of us believe, and the courts believe, that option two looks further to the future," he said.
The remaining money to make up the difference between the grant from the legislature and the total cost of the project will come from the county's budget next year.
Michelle Kennedy, spokeswoman for Florida's 18th Judicial Circuit, said there currently aren't enough courtrooms to see cases as efficiently as possible and that the expansion would be a major boon to the county's justice system.
"Right now we play musical chairs with our courtrooms," Kennedy said. "It gets super complicated as far as who needs what and when and it can depend on the type of case and how many parties are involved."
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Chief Judge Charles Crawford said the county's population has surpassed the capacity of the courthouse since it was built three decades ago in 1994.
"We have more judges than we have courtrooms. We also don't have enough space for the number of jurors we have every day. People are waiting along the walls, waiting to be taken to a courtroom," Crawford said.
"We had to do what we could to expand within the courthouse. We've taken space from the law library and that space will be the new jury assembly room," he said.
Courthouses in Melbourne and Titusville will remain fully utilized and will operate more efficiently as services expand in Viera, he added. The expansion will make it easier for all juvenile cases, which are legally required to be separated from adult proceedings, to take place completely in Melbourne, Crawford said.
Jurors in Titusville are currently required to walk to the courthouse from a separate building, putting strain on jury pools that are already taxed performing a public service, Crawford said. The consolidation will make that unnecessary. "We still won't have a courtroom for every judge, but right now we have problems like family trials being held in judge's chambers. It's just not conducive for people who are struggling to be around each other to be five feet apart," Crawford added Tyler Vazquez is the Brevard County watchdog reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Vazquez at 321-480-0854 or tvazquez@floridatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Brevard commission approves $6.1 million overhaul for Viera courthouse
