The Lake County Courthouse is undergoing a significant transformation, which sometimes leads to a little confusion.

During a recent tour with Commissioner Gale Decker, an older woman stopped him to ask where she could register to vote. He directed her across the street to the Dave Stipe Annex, now home of the Lake County Election Office.

Citizens looking for the commissioners now need to ascend to the third floor. The former commission chambers, located on the second floor, will soon house juvenile probation, which is currently in the basement.

Meanwhile, the three commissioners have settled into their new offices in what was previously the Environmental Health and Planning departments (also relocated to the Annex). The space also includes offices for civil attorney James Raymond, road supervisor Jay Garrick and finance director Tara Barry.

The former large conference room on the third floor is being converted to a second district courtroom, replete with judge’s bench and jury box, while chambers for District Court Judges John Mercer and Molly Owen are also slated for an expansion and remodel.

Meanwhile, plans are in the final stages to remodel the detention center, located in the courthouse basement. That renovation will add 14 beds, bringing the total to 60, move the jail kitchen into the former election office, and create a new entryway on the south side of the building on Fifth Avenue. 

The project will also add two more rooms with “administrative segregated beds” for inmates who need to be separated from the general jail population, often due to mental health issues or intoxication, and an office for the jail administrator.

Overall, Decker says the courthouse renovation is expected to cost $4 million, money gleaned from an annual judgement levy, imposed in the wake of lawsuits against conditions in the jail, and a one-time legislative allocation of $3 million. That appropriation was approved in 2005 to redress challenges faced by the county and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes related to Public Law 280, which governs felony prosecutions of tribal members on the Flathead Reservation.

More steps, fewer interruptions

The commissioners moved into their third-floor offices several months ago, but were still holding public meetings downstairs until Oct. 10.  

The commission’s executive administrative assistant Kate Stinger said the new third-floor arrangement has some advantages – especially now that the meeting chamber has also moved upstairs

“Before, I was like running upstairs and then running back downstairs to make copies or scan something,” she said.  

The commissioners each have an office, whereas before they were all sitting on a dais in the second-floor meeting room. According to Decker, the new setup allows for fewer interruptions.

In the old configuration, if someone wanted to speak to a commissioner, “the other two commissioners were involved whether we wanted to be or not.”

“The downside (of the new arrangement) is you don't hear everything that's going on,” he said. “You miss some conversations and you say, ‘when did that happen?’”

The commissioners have long had an open-door approach, and Decker hopes the new configuration won’t impede citizen access, especially since there’s a larger conference table outside their office where all three can still visit with constituents.

“I think the culture that had been established, where people felt comfortable coming in, I don't think that has changed,” he said.

As to public access, the commissioners chambers can be reached by stairs or an elevator.

Decker hopes the project will be complete within a year, with the jail renovation last on the list due to the complexity of remodeling a detention center that still houses prisoners. In drawing up plans, he said architects have had to be mindful of state laws stipulating how inmates are housed.

“While the jail renovation is significant, it's not like a major, major overhaul,” Decker said. “But it is time consuming and somewhat complicated.”

Decker said they’ve been able to keep costs lower and speed up the project by hiring local labor. He credited Thinglestad Construction of Ronan, which completed much of a recent renovation at the Ronan Community Center, with making crews available during lulls in other projects. County maintenance supervisor Dale Ramesar is the construction manager.

Because the entire project is contained within the courthouse, Decker said work can continue all winter, “so the weather won't slow them down.” 

    Brent Hudson and Jax Wedrick were at work recently in the Lake County Courthouse, where they were sheetrocking the new juvenile probation offices – formerly the commission chambers – on the second floor. (Kristi Niemeyer/Leader)