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Judicial officials dissatisfied with courthouse space, project timeline

Courthouse project 15-20% complete

T-R PHOTOS BY ROBERT MAHARRY — Marshall County Buildings and Grounds Director Lucas Baedke (left) leads a tour of the courthouse, which is currently being reconstructed and restored, while Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Susan Christensen (right) looks on.

A group of Marshall County officials led representatives from the state Judicial Branch — including Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Susan Christensen and Associate Justice Matthew McDermott — on a tour of the courthouse Thursday to survey the progress on renovation and reconstruction while presenting their sometimes conflicting views on how the finished product should look.

After the board of supervisors fired previous contractor First Onsite over the summer and hired then-subcontractor Breiholz Construction to take over general contractor duties, Marshall County Buildings and Grounds Director Lucas Baedke told the group that as of Thursday, the overall project was only about “15 to 20 percent” completed. He added that he’s tired of setting deadline dates that aren’t met.

Baedke escorted the attendees through each floor of the building and explained how courtrooms and county offices will be arranged once the restoration is completed. In sharing one anecdote, he noted that just as the roof had been finished in 2020 about two years after the EF-3 tornado — and the county was preparing to sign insurance papers — the devastating derecho hit and knocked it right back down.

One of the main points of contention between the county and the judicial branch is the number of courtrooms in the new and improved courthouse. Christensen opined that she believes there should be six total, while the current plans for the building only call for four. She argued that because the project is less than one-fourth complete, changes could still be made, and she suggested an official meeting with the board of supervisors to discuss her position.

“(The past) is a lot of water under the bridge. Let’s just start fresh,” Christensen said.

Baedke addressed a group of officials from the Iowa Judicial Branch during the tour on Thursday morning.

In a subsequent interview, Baedke reiterated that while the county wants to accommodate all of the needs and as many of the wants of the judicial branch as possible, it still has to be realistic, and it’s difficult to make drastic changes when the planning process has already concluded.

“It’s tough because we want to play nice in the sandbox, but we can’t do everything,” he said. “There’s only so much room we have.”

District Court Judge John Haney, who serves Marshall and several surrounding counties and attended the tour on Thursday, said he continues to believe a need exists for five to six courtrooms. He remains concerned about the use of remote locations for court proceedings going forward, especially as ownership of the Orpheum Theater will soon be transferred from the Iowa Valley Community College District to the Marshalltown Community School District.

“It looks quite apparent to us that it might be a year or more until we’re back in the courthouse,” Haney said. “I’m disappointed that everybody knows this is coming down, but we’ve got criminal and civil trials scheduled heavily for the next year. And we haven’t had any communication on what we’re going to do and how we’re going to do it.”

Iowa Court of Appeals Judge Sharon Greer, who also attended the event, expressed a similar sentiment about the situation and the problems it has created for Marshall County residents.

“Where do you go to pay your fines? Where do you go to appear before the magistrate? We have locations all over creation,” she said. “It’s a huge inconvenience not only for the litigants but for the actual citizens.”

Currently, Marshall is one of two Iowa counties without a functional courthouse. Warren County, which is in the process of constructing a new building, is the other.

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.

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