Deferring New Judicial Center Construction Is Right Move

The issue: Construction of a new $50 million judicial center. Our opinion: With the economy in the dumps and more space available in the courthouse, county commissioners were wise to shelve plans for the project.

If ever there was a bad time to spend millions of local tax dollars on a new judicial center in Hernando County, that time would be now.

With the economy in a tailspin, unemployment numbers skyrocketing and the housing market on life support, county officials need to be ever mindful about every tax dollar they spend. That same dollar may not be around to spend next year, especially when considering the free-fall of property values in our market.

We're glad Hernando County commissioners recognize that.

On Tuesday, commissioners voted to shelve plans to build the new judicial center, estimated to cost $50 million - unless, of course, the "wish-list" project is tagged for funding in President Barack Obama's economic stimulus package.

While the No. 1 reason to postpone the project is the poor economy, another good reason is because there is more space available in the government center. With streamlining efforts ongoing in county government, there are and will continue to be fewer jobs and, thus, the space taken up by people who used to perform those jobs.

"The fiscal dynamic is changing almost daily, and I don't believe it's timely to acquire more debt," County Commission Chairman David Russell told Hernando Today.

That debt would come in the form of steep lease payments to the developer in addition to the county's $18.6 million injection of cash to fund the project.

"... We just don't have the resources to move forward with the center," Russell said during Tuesday's meeting.

Commissioners also voted unanimously to renovate a portion of the third floor of the county's government center to allow for an additional courtroom and a relocated jury assembly room.

That should help ease the space crunch faced by the judiciary.

Still, Circuit Judge Daniel Merritt was none too happy.

"At some point, you're going to have to face up to the need for a judicial facility," Merritt told commissioners, noting the additional courtroom was "like putting a Band-Aid on an amputation."

"It's not going to solve the problem," he stressed.

Merritt went so far as to liken the judiciary's space crunch to the scores of bathrooms in the government center that aren't always full.

However, at times during periods of high activity, Merritt said the lines are long and can pose an inconvenience.

Courtrooms, Merritt said, should be as plentiful as bathrooms.

To that we say nonsense.

Merritt also threatened commissioners, saying at some point he may be forced to "take action" and invoke the county's constitutional obligation to provide "reasonable and necessary space" for the judiciary.

Merritt needs to tread more lightly.

There are a number of options the judiciary could implement to ease its lack of space without spending upwards of $50 million to build a new judicial complex.

Those options, like night court and weekend court, apparently aren't palatable to the judges. Those options might be inconvenient, but they would surely help remedy the problem.

Until the judiciary exhausts other options to carrying out justice in Hernando County, county commissioners need to hold tight the purse strings on their ever-shrinking bag of tax dollars.