Capital penny sales tax project: Sumter County Courthouse

Renovations would provide more courtroom, storage space

Keith Gedamke / Item photo illustration Judge Jeffrey Young works in a cramped courtroom at the Family Court in Sumter.

By JAMIE HUDSON
Item Staff Writer

After more than 100 years of service, the Sumter County Courthouse needs to retire from its use as the hub of the county's judicial events, Sumter County officials say . In its place, a new modern judicial center would be built — on the back of the capital penny sales tax.

"In the current building there is not enough courtroom space and not enough storage space," said Bill Noonan, Sumter County administrator. "That, by itself, isn't reason to get out of sorts but what is, is the security of the building."

The $20 million project is the heavyweight contender in the list of projects to be funded by the capital penny sales tax should it be approved by voters in the Nov. 4 general election. The project is actually twofold.

About $18 million would go to fund an 80,000-square-foot facility that would house the circuit, family and probate courts as well as the clerk of court administrative offices. The remaining $2 million would go toward the renovation of the magistrate's court, located in the Judicial Annex on the bottom floor of the seven-story County Office Building downtown, and would provide for more courtroom space.

"If we don't do something as far as file space … we will have no room by 2010. We are that maxed out," said Clerk of Court Jamie Campbell.

The public defender's office as well as the voter registration office is also located in the building.

County officials have long searched for a way to handle the crisis, but with a limit of fundraising by a state-imposed cap on property taxes and the revenue to do little more than fund its operational cost, many say they have no other option.

"We can spend several million in each of the three or we can consolidate our court systems and make adjustments that are required," said Noonan.

The problem trickles down to other county entities, said Sumter officials. The courthouse's inadequate facilities mean Sumter officials can only process a fraction of its cases on the docket.

When a case isn't processed quickly, the impounded accused is kept behind bars at a cost of about $50 per inmate per day.

Clerk of Court Jamie Campbell asserts that the equivalent of one-third of Sumter's total population filters through the courthouse for one reason or another.

Beyond its crowded conditions is the issue that the courthouse needs security renovations.

It was in the summer of 2006 that state Supreme Court Chief Justice Jean Toal mandated that counties statewide address courthouse security concerns and do so out of pocket.

But it was in July 2007, when a man was sighted loading a gun in a courthouse restroom, that gave additional impetus to those concerns.

Sumter County Council allocated more than $360,000 to purchase security equipment such as metal detectors, cameras and increased law enforcement presence.


Contact Staff Writer Jamie Hudson at jhudson@theitem.com or (803) 774-1222.