$4.9M OK’d for fixes to downtown courthouse
Harris County Commissioners Court on Tuesday approved $4.9 million in repairs to the downtown criminal courthouse to make 16 more courtrooms available to judges.
Court members said the repairs are a temporary fix aimed at helping clear a backlog of cases exacerbated by Hurricane Harvey while the county mulls whether to build a new criminal courthouse.
“The short-term solution is to remodel elevators that right now can’t be used, and to remodel 16 courtrooms so folks can have their dockets,” County Judge Lina Hidalgo said. “I’m very, very happy to see our system moving once again.”
The court used a special meeting Tuesday morning to approve paying Amtech Elevator Services $4.5 million to repair the building’s elevators. The county engineer’s office will spend another $400,000 in to repair courtrooms on floors 10, 11, 15 and 16. Currently, only courtrooms on floors 17 through 20 are in use.
The 20-story building took on four feet of water during Harvey. In addition, water that leaked into
the basement caused computers that regulate water pressure to malfunction, bursting pipes on upper floors and soaking courtrooms on floors well above the floodwaters.
Tuesday’s meeting, which lasted less than three minutes, was a departure from the two hours-long gatherings the court held in January. County Engineer John Blount recommended the repairs, court members unanimously agreed without discussion, and promptly adjourned.
District Attorney Kim Ogg in December persuaded Commissioners Court to delay a decision on whether to spend $14 million to repair floors two through 20. She argued the expense would be foolish if the county ultimately decides to raze the building.
A working group assembled by Hidalgo, which includes the district attorney, sheriff, chief public defender, district clerk and criminal district judges, recommended spending $4.9 million as a compromise.
“We need more courts trying more cases and, if this is what it takes, we are for it,” Ogg said in a statement Tuesday.
Harris County’s criminal justice system remains backlogged, 18 months after Harvey flooded the courthouse and halted proceedings for weeks. Displaced judges have shared courtrooms with other jurists in nearby buildings, and prosecutors remain scattered in offices throughout downtown Houston.
The future of much of the county’s criminal justice complex remains in limbo, as its proximity to Buffalo Bayou puts the roughly eight-block area at risk of repeat flooding. The sevenyear-old, $13 million jury assembly building sits abandoned at the center of the complex. Commissioners Court decided repairing the building would be unwise, as it is mostly underground, but has yet to approve a plan to replace it.
The county’s Family Law Center at 1115 Congress, which was pressed back into service after Harvey, lacks a sprinkler system and proper evacuation routes and operates with a waiver from the Houston fire marshal. The 12-story building at 1301 Franklin, which houses offices of the district clerk, public defender and district attorney, also lacks sprinklers.
Harris County voters in 2007 approved a $70 million bond to build a new family law building, but Commissioners Court has yet to approve a plan for the structure.
Blount, the county engineer, said the working group must evaluate the criminal justice needs of the county before committing to new construction.
“If we need twice as many offices and half as many courtrooms, we need to decide that now before we rebuild,” Blount said.