The verdict is in

Benton County leaders favor downtown for courts

“More is lost by indecision than wrong decision. Indecision is the thief of opportunity. It will steal you blind.” — Marcus Tullius Cicero

The Benton County Quorum Court reached a decision, after years of study and debate, that the county’s project to consolidate and update its courts will happen in the downtown area.

It’s not official yet. This week, the downtown location was favored by a 11-2 vote of the Committee of the Whole, which is a meeting of the entire Quorum Court in which issues are discussed but formal decisions cannot be made. Since the committee is made up of the entire Quorum Court, that unofficial vote nonetheless appears to seal the deal for a site on Northeast Second Street as preferable to building a courts facility on county-owned land on Southwest 14th Street adjacent to the county jail. The formal meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. March 30.

The county’s voters nudged the Quorum Court toward the downtown location last year when they elected Barry Moehring as their county judge, unseating incumbent Bob Clinard. Clinard was a staunch advocate for building a unified courts system next to the jail, where parking, expansion and security for inmates would be far simpler and, we suggest, less expensive.

“Anywhere from 15 to 20 years, if they build it downtown, they’re going to have to move to another site and add some more courtrooms,” Clinard said recently. “It’s not the best long-term decision for the county based on the number of judges projected for the county. It’s not the best choice in terms of disruption of the courts system. If they build on [Southwest 14th Street] they can just move right in. It’s not the best choice in terms of traffic congestion. They’re going to have to close some streets during construction downtown. It’s not the best choice from a construction standpoint.”

Advocates for the downtown location include Moehring and members of the Walton family. The Walton Family Foundation made a $2.8 million grant available to renovate the courthouse and has agreed to buy land on Northeast Second Street and transfer it to the county. The Waltons also indicated they’ll build a parking garage on Northeast B Street, near the downtown sites, and make space available for county and courts-related parking if the courts stay downtown.

It’s hard to ignore such generosity. We have long advocated for the 14th Street site as the best longterm solution. Building downtown will prove more challenging and it will take exceptional attention to details to ensure the county doesn’t cut corners that impact the longterm functionality of the courts. Future expansion will be tougher downtown. Operationally, having the courts next door to the jail, where many of its “customers” reside, makes logistical sense.

But the issue has been evaluated and reviewed and analyzed. It’s time for a decision.

“Be decisive. Right or wrong, make a decision. The road of life is paved with flat squirrels who couldn’t make a decision,” goes a comment, origins unknown.

That the Quorum Court and Moehring didn’t make the most easily functional choice doesn’t make it the wrong choice for Bentonville and the county. It does change the canvas on which the parties involved will work. The concern among judges who preside over the courts isn’t location so much as it is operation. They need space configured in such a way it helps reduce the tensions in the real-life dramas taking place in the courts daily. Keeping inmates separate from witnesses, jurors and families. Having enough space that families of victims aren’t forced to congregate just feet away from families of the person on trial.

The judges have said they want to ensure a new facility is safe and adequate to meet the growing demands on the county’s judicial system. Location doesn’t matter to them as much as what’s designed. In his campaign last year, Moehring pledged to develop a collaborative process to meet the needs of the judicial system and the county.

Future questions will certainly involve costs and how much to build immediately verses how much room for expansion today’s plan needs to account for. There’s a desire to get it right.

“I don’t want to do anything that’s going to just get us by for a few years,” Justice of the Peace Pat Adams said. “We need to do it right when we do it. I’ve seen too many projects where people tried to cut corners. It winds up costing you double in the end.”

Counties rarely get opportunities to develop major, comprehensive facilities to address current shortcomings and future opportunities. Done well or done poorly, the result is typically going to be dealt with for 30, 40, 50 years or longer.

We don’t want to criticize any government leader for trying to save money, but there’s also wisdom in avoiding a “penny wise and pound foolish” response. Benton County’s judicial system has gotten by with getting by long enough. Moehring and the Quorum Court will hopefully develop a plan fully capable of meeting the judicial system needs for many years to come, and a way to pay for it. Doing anything less will make all this effort pointless.

They say in real estate, location, location, location is critical. In serving the needs of Benton County, that’s less important than the quality of the facility resulting from this long deliberative process.