Delayed court moving closer to construction
Montgomery County commissioners to take bids on new facility.
After a long delay, Montgomery County commissioners will vote this week to get construction bids for a new Trotwood municipal courts building expected to cost roughly $5 million.
“The timeline for the project shifted because first, we had to obtain the land in Trotwood to build upon. Then, the pandemic resulted in the county making budget adjustments of nearly $30 million, which delayed the project,” said Montgomery County Administrator Michael Colbert.
County officials first announced the move in 2018 after years of study and targeted a 2020 completion, but due to the delay a lease was extended until 2022 at the court’s current location in New Lebanon.
The new 18,000-square-foot courthouse will sit on the north side of East Main Street just across Macgregor Drive from the new library. Montgomery County commissioners accepted the 3.3 acres of land from the Trotwood Community Improvement Corp in December.
The courthouse construction project will join a new Goodwill Easter Seals Miami Valley’s West Campus Community Services Center. Between both projects is the new Dayton Metro Library Trotwood branch.
The Western Division serves Brookville, Clay Twp. Farmersville, Jackson Twp., Jefferson Twp., New Lebanon, Perry Twp., Phillipsburg, Trotwood and Verona. The Eastern Division court in Huber Heights serves that community along with Riverside.
County officials first announced the move in 2018 after years of study. Court records showed about 55% of the Western Division cases involve Trotwood citizens.
“Montgomery County committed to building a courthouse in the west and Trotwood is the center of that western region,” Colbert said. “We also needed to ensure wherever we built that there would be a bus line nearby allowing for greater public access.”
A lack of public transportation to New Lebanon was a major factor in deciding to locate the court in Trotwood, commissioners said at the time.
Colbert said the new stateof-the-art facility will be more than a courthouse, housing space for Montgomery County Workforce Development programs as well as Montgomery County Job and Family Services.
“If people need assistance with their benefits or want workforce training, we will be able to provide that service there in Trotwood, which keeps citizens from having to make the trek downtown,” he said.