Judicial Center expansion well underway in Stone County

A $5 million, 14,000-square-foot expansion of the Stone County Judicial Center in underway.

Once construction is complete, there will be more room in the jail, more office space, and, most of all, additional courtroom space.

Judge Alan Blankenship says currently on court days, the rooms are packed and people even spill out into the hallway.

"Often we have people sitting in the jury box, even though we are not conducting a jury trial," Blankenship said. "The hallways typically are filled with people either who came with people involved with a court case or those who are waiting to be called in for their case."

However, the county commissioner says the expansion won't only create more space, but also more security.

"Right now, the judges come in the same door that the plaintiffs do and the criminals do," Presiding Commissioner Dennis Wood said.

Judge Blankenship says it'll also increase security for witnesses and jurors.

"We will be able to have a separate assembly area to keep them separate from the public and also the parties involved in a case and make them more comfortable," Blankenship said.

They broke ground on the project this summer, so they've still got a ways to go. Meantime, staff and citizens in Stone County are working around the progress. They're borrowing a Planning and Zoning room across the street as a make-shift courtroom and using technology to make the temporary space safe.

"We had to build in a temporary witness box," Blankenship said. "We established a video link between this room and our jail facility, so the persons incarcerated could remain in the jail."

While the construction process is an adjustment, they say it'll be well worth it in the long run.

"Something that Stone County will be proud of for a long time," Wood said.

Expected to be complete next summer, this expansion comes at no additional cost to taxpayers. It's being paid for with money out of the county’s general budget.