If all goes to plan, Lauderdale County Courthouse operations will be temporarily relocated to the vacant J.C. Penney space at Bonita Lakes mall by March 1.

The Lauderdale County Board of Supervisors on Monday voted to approve “the concept of relocating all occupants, official employees, departments, courts, commissions and offices” in the courthouse and the courthouse annex to the 82,000-square-foot building for a period of two to three years.

As Monday’s vote is not binding, the board will decide whether or not it will commit to the property after all details are reviewed, the most important being the exact cost of renting the property.

This information could be available to the board by its next meeting on Dec. 18.

Yates Construction and LPK Architects, P.A., and the board attorney will “prepare the necessary agreements and professional research, study, design and analysis to effectuate the same.”

District 1 Supervisor Jonathan Wells said the board would “plan the plan… to allow these guys to move forward.”

With District 4 Supervisor Joe Norwood abstaining, Wells, District 2 Supervisor Wayman Newell and District 5 Supervisor Kyle Rutledge voted yes.

Board President and District 3 Supervisor Josh Todd was not present.

Bob Luke of LPK Architects told the board the possibility of obtaining the federal courthouse, now the location of the U.S. Post Office, is still on the table. Luke said it will be at least Jan. 31, 2018 before any further information would be available. Tentative plans would allow the county use of the courthouse facilities in the building in conjunction with the newly renovated county courthouse.

At a meeting with the board on Friday, Luke and Justin McDonald of Yates Construction suggested preparations be made to have the county operations up and running by March 1.

“We’ve got to get people out of there, and we’ve got to get them out of there now,” Luke said on Friday.

McDonald on Friday said J.C. Penney was at the top of a short list made after inspecting a number of properties in Lauderdale County.

McDonald said the building meets the county’s minimum need of 81,000 square feet for the temporary relocation.

Criteria considered in choosing the building included the neighborhood, functionality, secured parking and operating costs.

In terms of operating costs, County Administrator Chris Lafferty said utility costs at the J.C. Penney building would be cut in half, as it spent about $124,000 last year for utilities at the courthouse and the annex building. Lafferty estimates utilities will cost about $5,000 per month — or about $60,000 per year — at J.C. Penney.

Per Luke’s suggested timeline, a professional moving company would be needed for the relocation effort. Because the service exceeds $50,000, the board would be required to advertise for bids.

At Friday’s meeting, Todd suggested hiring a part-time crew to incrementally move items from one location to the other instead of spending upward of $75,000 for a moving company.

Newell said he would prefer a professional service, as some of the items at the courthouse are “important records.”

McDonald said on Friday clearing the county courthouse will help speed up the renovation process.

“You don’t want to disturb anything while someone is still in the building,” McDonald said.

Luke said “selective demolition” will be the first part of the process. He also suggested removing the dilapidated jail from the top of the courthouse.

“Our recommendation is that we take the old jail off,” said Luke, citing issues with leaking water that have caused water damage in the building.

In other action Monday, the board also approved the hiring of local attorney Jessica Massey as the county’s public defender.