Peoria County is in the process of remodeling three courtrooms that were damaged when a pipe burst in February. One of those courtrooms is back in use -- while the other two are not.
Construction started on courtrooms 222 and 322 in July. Now, the drywall is exposed, the ceiling tiles are gone, and the carpet is pulled up.
Chief Judge Stephen Kouri is growing impatient. He says having two courtrooms out of commission is slowing down the number of cases judges are able to hear. On top of that, judges are having to juggle courtrooms.
“We’re shuffling juries, we’re shuffling attorneys, we’re shuffling the public,” Kouri said. “One person said to me, ‘I feel like I’m in a TV sitcom.’”
County Administrator Scott Sorrel says construction has taken longer than anticipated because the design process was lengthy, and some parts of the reconstruction are custom fit including the wood work and new courtroom technology.
“This is an opportunity to remodel these and do it right," Sorrel said. "But just plain and simple, it's taking longer than it should have.”
The courtrooms haven’t been remodeled since they were built in 1989. The two unfinished rooms will be outfitted with updated technology for things like the live video link to the county jail for arraignments.
One of those courtrooms was quickly remodeled to keep the court cases flowing. But Judge Kouri says having the other two out of commission is an impediment to addressing cases in a timely fashion.
“We’ve tried not to slow down the felony docket, but it causes other dockets to be bumped,” Kouri said. “So if you want your child support issue being heard, you’ve got to wait another couple of weeks.”
But he says for someone waiting for a child support check, a couple of weeks could make a big difference.
Sorrel says the cost of the two updated courtrooms is about $407,000 dollars. The first of the three courtrooms was repaired with the very basics for $125,000. Sorrel says the county is waiting to see how much insurance will cover for repairing the three courtrooms.
