By KEITH ERICKSON

Staff writer

Faced with increasingly cramped quarters in Kootenai County’s three primary governmental buildings, commissioners on Monday were given a preliminary facilities review of options to ease crowding.

The county’s justice building, courthouse and administration building are packed beyond capacity, forcing the county to lease space at a cost of $10,000 per month for the public defender’s offices alone, commissioners said.

Plans reviewed by commissioners offer two primary options, each consisting of one new four-story building with about 88,000 square feet to house county departments.

Commission Chairman Chris Fillios said the facilities’ needs were especially pressing in light of major growth anticipated in the court system in the next two years.

In 2021, the state is planning to add two judges plus support staff to District 1, which includes Kootenai County. A recent $1.5 million grant from state’s Public Defender Commission will pay for at least eight new attorneys and five support staff for the county.

Scott Fischer of Architects West shared two options for the new building, each of which would be built on the current county campus.

Several scenarios were also provided on rearranging county departments in the most efficient ways for staff and the public.

Given the urgent need for more space, Fillios said he would like to see action taken quickly.

“I’d like to see us break ground next summer if it’s doable,” he said, although the commissioner acknowledged with all the procurement logistics involved it may take longer for construction to occur.

Commissioner Bill Brooks shared his colleague’s sense of urgency.

“It’s not an emergency, but it’s a soon-to-be realized crisis,” Brooks said. “To not do anything would not be responsible.”

Fillios said he would prefer to look closely at “cash on hand” options for financing the new county facility. But he realized the county may have to go to voters for passage of a bond.

“Bonding is certainly not my first choice,” Fillios said.

Under the options presented Monday to commissioners, the new facility would require a footprint of about 20,000 square feet. As proposed, it would be erected either on the north side of the county campus or centrally located between the courthouse and justice buildings.

The three existing county buildings include just under 100,000 square feet of office space. The new facility, at 88,000 square feet, would provide more than enough space to handle the county’s need for about 178,000 square feet, Fischer told commissioners.