The March shooting of a Lauderdale County Chancery Court judge and the COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted the importance of planning for the county’s new government complex, the project architect said Monday.  

Bob Luke of LPK Architects and Justin McDonald of W.G. Yates & Sons Construction Company shared a schematic design for the complex at a meeting of the Board of Supervisors. 

The county purchased the old Village Fair Mall property in Meridian in June 2019 for $1.25 million with plans for a new courthouse. Demolition of the old mall off Sela Ward Parkway is expected to be finished this month, project leaders said. 

Chancery Court Judge Charles Smith was shot near his truck outside the Lauderdale County Courthouse on the morning of March 16, police said. Smith returned to the bench in May, following several surgeries. 

No arrests have been made in the case, which is being investigated by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.

In his presentation to supervisors, Luke shared some of the planned security features for the new government complex, including secure employee parking with card access, a single public entrance with several exits and public and private corridors. 

Luke told supervisors that plans are for a main building of approximately 89,000 square feet. The existing courthouse and Raymond P. Davis County Annex Building currently utilize about 152,000 square feet, he said. 

The new building would include offices for the tax collector, tax assessor, district attorney, public defender, Board of Supervisors, county administration and Circuit, Chancery and County courts, among other offices, Luke said. 

He estimated that the initial phase of construction could begin in September or October, with a goal of completing the project by April 2022. 

Project leaders hope to have an initial cost assessment within four to six weeks, he said. 

The design includes plans to use a former LabCorp building on the rear of the mall property for the sheriff’s department, E-911, emergency management agency, volunteer fire department and drug court testing, according to Luke. 

The approximately 30,000 square-foot building is in good shape, but would need some work, he said. 

Confederate monument 

The lead organizer for several recent peace rallies in Meridian also addressed the board, calling for the relocation of the Lauderdale County Confederate monument. 

N’spire Walker, president of Dream Team of the South, told supervisors that she and others hoped to change the narrative for the city. 

“We’re not erasing history, we’re just putting it in a more suitable place so that we can continue to move forward as one people,” she said. 

One possible location would be a Confederate cemetery in the county, she said. 

The county does not own the cemetery, Board Attorney Lee Thaggard said. 

Walker has also addressed the Meridian City Council about the issue and some council members have discussed drafting a resolution in support of relocating it. 

The resolution would require three votes by the council to pass and Council Vice President Weston Lindemann of Ward 5 said he expected it could be brought up at the next council meeting on Tuesday. 

The monument is on public property owned and maintained by the county, according to County Administrator Chris Lafferty.

The Board of Supervisors is the public body responsible for maintaining it, Lafferty said.

He said earlier this month that any position that the board takes will be in light of a state statute, Miss. Code Ann. 55-15-81.

The statute prohibits the alteration of historical monuments and memorials erected on public property.

“The governing body may move the memorial to a more suitable location if it is determined that the location is more appropriate to displaying the monument,” according to the statute.

District 2 Supervisor Wayman Newell questioned who would pay for a relocation of the monument. 

“If you really want it to be done, especially if we see it affects us psychologically as a people, where there’s a will, we know that there’s a way,” Walker said. 

Susan Parker of Meridian said though the Civil War was a “very hurtful time for our country,” the statue should remain where it is.

“If we don’t have museums and correct information to teach us history, there’s another saying, ‘We’re doomed to repeat it,’” she said. “I do hope we can turn the courthouse into a museum because it will help teach our young people our history.” 

Supervisors said they planned to discuss the monument at a future work session.