Feelers have already been put out by members of the Lauderdale County Board of Supervisors about their interest in the federal court space above the central post office in downtown Meridian.

    Joe Norwood, District 4 supervisor and president of the Board of Supervisors, said Friday afternoon the county is interested in the space as a way to solve some of its problems at both the Annex Building and the Lauderdale County Courthouse.

    “We have been in contact with our congressional delegation in Washington and have told them we want to be at the top of the list of those who are interested in the space,” said Norwood. “We believe that property would make a great addition to the county and solve some problems.”

    Norwood said the board members have been talking about the purchase of the entire building as one option. It that were to happen, Norwood said the post office would be a tenant of the building and the county.

    “We are out of space with all the records we have to keep,” Norwood said. “We also are going to be renovating the county court house so it would be nice to have a place for the circuit and chancery courts and staff to go.”

    The U.S. federal court system announced Tuesday it would no longer use the federal court building’s courtroom and offices on the second floor of the downtown post office. Meridian’s federal court is among six in the South that will close in the next few years in a cost-cutting measure expected to save $1 million a year in rent.

    The decision to close the federal courthouses was announced by the Supreme Court of the Judicial Conference, the federal judiciary’s policy-making arm led by Chief Justice John Roberts.

    “This is part of an aggressive cost containment effort because the money to operate the courts has been frozen by Congress the past three years,” said David Sellers, a federal courts spokesman.

    Sellers didn’t know where federal court proceedings for Lauderdale County residents would take place in the future. He said those decisions would be made at a later date. It also isn’t clear when the federal court house will close for good.

    The federal court system paid the U.S. Postal Service $11,716.51 per month to lease the space. Enola Rice, a spokesperson for the U.S. Postal Service said the loss in revenue is something that will have to be discussed.

    “We don’t know what we are going to do,” said Rice. “We are open to suggestions and will entertain any offers or proposals.”

    When told the local county board of supervisors was already interested in the building, Rice seemed pleased at the news and said they would have to contact the U.S. Postal Service to continue a dialogue.

    District 1 Supervisor Wayman Newell said it will be important that in the process of trying to obtain the building and space, that this new acquisition not become a burden to the county taxpayer.

    “There have been instances where the federal government has given buildings to the local governments to take over so the federal government doesn’t have to deal with the expense of upkeep,” Newell said. “That would be a great thing if that happened in this case.”

    Meridian’s federal court has handled many high profile cases over the years, including historical civil rights cases in the 1960s.