© 2024 KRCU Public Radio
90.9 Cape Girardeau | 88.9-HD Ste. Genevieve | 88.7 Poplar Bluff
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Big Changes On The Docket For Cape Girardeau Courthouses

Nyttend
/
Wikimedia Commons

 

 

Some big changes could be coming to Cape Girardeau County’s courthouses.

The county commission approved a plan last month to renovate the courthouse in Jackson, demolish the county’s administrative building and build a parking garage near the courthouse. The same plan would move all court services from the Common Pleas Courthouse in Cape Girardeau to the court in Jackson.

Reporter Samantha Rinehart has been covering these changes for the Southeast Missourian newspaper and she spoke with KRCU’s Jacob McCleland.

MCCLELAND:

First off, why is the new courthouse necessary in Jackson?

RINEHART:

For starters, Jackson is the county seat so it will have to be located in Jackson. There’s not an option to consolidate just in Cape Girardeau. They have pointed to a lot of problems specifically with Common Pleas but also with the historic Jackson courthouse. You have problems with heating and cooling, and you have problems with space. And security is their biggest issue. They talk about the adult abuse cases which come on, I believe, Thursday mornings in Common Pleas and you have this issue where both parties are facing each other in the hallway. And if you have just filed something against this person, you don’t really want to be standing in a crowded hallway with them. It would alleviate those concerns, definitely, and allow the county to continue to grow.

MCCLELAND:

You had a chance to take a tour of the Common Pleas Courthouse, and this is a 160-year old building. Tell us a little about the shortcomings that you had a chance to see in Common Pleas.

RINEHART:

So my favorite story was down in the basement, which is the dungeon...

MCCLELAND:

The dungeon?

RINEHART:

Yes, the dirt floor jail. I don’t even know how old that particular part is. I was heading down there with judge Scott Lipke and he told me this story about somebody heading down there because they have filing cabinets down there and seeing just the tail end of a snake. And he asked them, “Oh, how big was it?” and they were like, “Oh we don’t know.” And he’s like, “Oh, let me see it!” And they’re like “Oh, we never found it.” So it could potentially still be down there somewhere. I mean, that tells you everything you need to know. The fact that you’re a little bit worried that there could just maybe be a six-foot long snake at any given moment in the courthouse, that’s something I don’t think many courthouses probably worry about. And they had issues with phones, and they can’t update things like they want to because a 160-year old building was just not made for computers and phones and fax machines.

MCCLELAND:

What’s the overall cost estimate for this type of a project?

RINEHART:

Right now, the county continues to say it’s just about what money we can bring in. So they’re going to try to make it adjust to their budget but they’re kicking around a roughly $25 million dollar number. That could be subject to change. It could be a little higher or a little lower. That’s just in the lower 20 million that they are aiming for.

MCCLELAND:

So Samantha, as I understand it, the county is planning on paying for this with a use tax. Could you explain to use what exactly a use tax is?

RINEHART:

So a use tax is charged on out-of-state purchases, and these are larger purchases like vehicles, automobiles, boats and other types of large property like that. It does require consumers to file a use tax return with the Missouri Department of Revenue, but only if those out-of-state purchases equal more than $2,000 in a calendar year. So there are a lot of rules that apply with that. But I know that the county is very interested in making sure people understand this by the time April gets here.

MCCLELAND:

And that’s when it will be on the ballot here in Cape Girardeau County. Are there any concrete plans for what would happen to the Common Pleas Courthouse if all of the services were consolidated?

RINEHART:

Once that happens, the county will quit claim its half of the property, meaning it now belongs completely to the city of Cape Girardeau. So the city of Cape Girardeau has different options. They have not come forward to say specifically what they want to do with it yet, although they do have time to figure out a plan. I know a lot of people have expressed interest in a museum going there, but it remains to be seen.