GUEST COLUMN: Courthouse should be Board of Supervisors’ priority

Published 7:15 pm Saturday, January 7, 2017

I was disappointed that the courthouse was not mentioned among County Administrator Chris Lafferty’s priorities for the county’s Board of Supervisors in 2017 in his guest column for The Meridian Star. And as reported in The Star Wednesday morning, what did our new board president, Josh Todd, mean when he said “infrastructure, like the courthouse, is a separate entity all to itself”?

On Dec. 29, the board was delivered the long-awaited Courthouse Facilities Study by Eupora courthouse architect specialist Belinda Stewart. That’s the second one in the past six years. This one, in 67 pages, lays it all out, “chapter and verse”, regarding six potential solutions, the pros and cons of each, and also provides a cost estimate for each. It’s very professional, comprehensive, and written in layman’s terms the BOS and most any citizen can understand. All it takes is time and attention to read and understand —and money to implement.

It’s very professional, comprehensive, and written in layman’s terms the BOS and most any citizen can understand. All it takes is time and attention to read and understand —and money to implement. Fortunately, there is $12.8 million already financed for 20 years and available for a down payment toward starting. But is this board even going to give that thought the time of day?

There comes a time when a situation has been neglected for so long that there can be absolutely no excuse for not bringing “extreme focus” to the situation and a commitment to getting it done. That’s the situation dictated for our courthouse now. Dozens of grand juries’ reports since the year 2000 have cited dangers to the health of employees working there and inadequate security for them, judges, jurors, and for the public that utilizes it as well. Mississippi’s Supreme Court Chief Justice Waller toured it in 2015 and called it “an embarrassment” and “the worst courthouse in the state.”

Yes, it is going to take a lot of money; and yes, it may not be able to be completed all in one phase; and yes, if previous boards had done their jobs dictated by a statue in the Mississippi Code, to erect and keep “in good repair”….“a good and convenient courthouse”, the job would be easier; and yes if previous boards hadn’t squandered more than $60 million in borrowing and committed debt service since 2004, it might not be such a huge problem now. But now it’s this board’s problem, a big one, and absolutely nothing is more important than focusing on it immediately, choosing a course of action, and to begin implementing it.

Tommy Williams is a Meridian resident and acting director of Lauderdale County Citizens For Responsible Governance.