State's plans for new courthouse will devastate Nevada City, mayor says

The Nevada County Courthouse.

“This will be a terrible blow to our local economy if they move it out of the downtown. These blanket state policies don’t help local economies.” - Mayor Reinette Senum

Nevada County will have a new courthouse by 2015, according to an official with the Administrative Office of the Courts, which is overseeing a $5 billion program that will build 41 courthouses across the state.

“Absolutely,” Teresa Ruano, a spokesperson with the office, said when asked today if she had any doubt the project would be completed.

Nevada City Mayor Reinette Senum said, however, that she intends to contact local lawmakers to see if legislation can be introduced that would terminate SB 1407, which allows the state to collect court fees to the build courthouses.

“This will be a terrible blow to our local economy if they move it out of the downtown. These blanket state policies don’t help local economies,” Senum said today.

Ruano said legislation approved in 2002 gives the state the authority to operate all courthouses. SB 1407 was approved in 2008. It provides up to $5 billion to either renovate or build courthouses that are deemed to be in critical need of upgrades.

The state’s Judicial Council, which sets policy for this statewide construction project, has determined that Nevada County needs an 83,000-square-foot courthouse and 210 parking spaces that will require a four-acre site. The estimated cost is $107.9 million.

Senum wondered why the state would require such a large facility that clearly would not fit in downtown Nevada City.

“How much prosecuting do they plan on doing” she asked. “It’s like they are forcing our county into the prison business or court business. Why can’t they earmark funds for education instead?”

Ruano said the next step in the process is the site-acquisition phase, which is expected to take one to two years. A committee will be formed to evaluate potential sites. The criteria that will be evaluated includes access, security, transportation and neighborhood character. The site-selection criteria, however, does not prohibit the state from picking a location outside of Nevada City.

Once a site has been selected, another year will be spent designing the new courthouse, which means construction is expected to start in 2014.

Ruano said the state is now collecting around $273 million a year in court fees to fund the initial stages of this project.

 Eventually, the state will purchase lease-revenue bonds to finance the actual construction of the courthouses, she said.

SB 1407 authorizes the courts to collect fees for up to 35 years to pay for the projects. Ruano said the goal is to build all the courthouses as soon as possible.

“We’re undertaking all of them as fast as we can,” she said.