11/6/2009 10:01:00 PM New Camp Verde courthouse ready for business
Bruce Colbert/ The Daily Courier Jeanne Hicks, clerk of superior court, beams with pleasure Friday outside the new Camp Verde Superior Courthouse. Employees and volunteers on Friday started moving from the old courthouse to the new courthouse. Judges hold court there starting Monday.
PRESCOTT - It's high-tech and upscale: The new Camp Verde Superior Courthouse is ready for judges to dispense justice.
"We've needed this for the past five years," said Deborah Schaefer, court administrator. "This is long overdue."
It took four years of planning and about 14 months to build the $11.7 million courthouse at 2840 N. Commonwealth Dr. behind the old courthouse in Camp Verde.
Staff started moving Friday morning from their old offices to their new offices, and likely will need to work through the weekend to be ready for business on Monday, Superior Court Clerk Jeanne Hicks said.
"We're all so excited," Hicks said. "Look at the light in here (the clerks' offices). It's great to have natural light." She added that the view of the Verde Valley and mountains is a nice bonus, as well as nearly doubling her department's current office space.
The mood among most employees Friday morning could only be described as "excited" while packing boxes and loading trucks and trailers. Inmate jail trustees helped with the move.
"It will be ready for Monday," County Facilities Director Pat Kirshman said.
The 35,000-square-foot building houses four courtrooms, one hearing room, attorney interview rooms, an exhibit vault, file storage room, four public workstations, a multimedia room that doubles as a jury assembly room, and four victim rooms.
"The victim room has a two-way mirror, microphone and monitor so a victim can watch the proceedings without the suspect seeing them," said Shelley Bacon, court services coordinator.
The courthouse has two levels and a basement. The length of the building's front is glassed from ground to roof and adorned with copper trim.
"We're letting the copper trim get to a certain patina and then we'll seal it," Kirshman said.
The courtrooms are a marvel of technology.
"We've got the top technology," Bacon said. "There are monitors to view the proceedings, an evidence presentation system and video cameras that record the hearings. And we have a secure walkway from the jail to an interior elevator to a holding area."
Parading shackled inmates through the public to court has long been a sore point for law enforcement and members of the public that watch the spectacle.
"It's like walking a chain gang through the building," Schaefer said.
Now, however, custody officers escort inmates directly from the adjacent jail into an elevator in the basement, which discharges inmates into an enclosed and secured corridor behind courtrooms. Prisoners move through the corridor directly into a holding area out of contact with the public.
Although most employees Friday were busy moving, court business went on. Court clerks handled business surrounded by cardboard file boxes, cell phones ringing, and workers pushing dollies in and out.
"It's like Christmas," said Jackie Harshman, a court window clerk. "The new building is awesome."
Superior Court Judges Michael Bluff, Tina Ainley and Warren Darrow are the full-time judges moving into the new courthouse. Bluff had a light calendar Friday and filled time carrying boxes to his new chambers.
"It will be nice to have bigger courtrooms with room for jury trials, and the chambers are much bigger," Bluff said. "We start Monday with a full calendar."
The new courthouse also houses offices for adult probation and CASA (Court-Appointed Special Advocates.)
"It's like a dream come true," said Jim Ventura, senior adult probation officer. Three officers share the new office, which is nearly triple the size of their previous office that Ventura described as "a closet."
"We're all up, up, up," said a beaming Harshman.
"I think it looks pretty darn good," Kirshman said, summing up the year-long construction.
The board of supervisors is inviting members of the public to an open house at the new courthouse, which includes tours and refreshments, 10 a.m. Friday, Nov. 20.
Reader Comments
Posted: Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Article comment by:
Tube TV owner.
Removed the barb wire from the area they bring new arrestees because it looks threatening?? Its a jail for pete's sake! I suppose now the'll be putting in wall to wall carpet so the inmates can lay on the floor while watching there flat panel TVs. Wow. When did we start giving criminals (and I know, suspected criminals) the five star hotel treatment. What about safety?
Posted: Sunday, November 08, 2009
Article comment by:
No name provided
I would agree that painting the jail to match the court house, and at that a color that looks like baby poo, was a pointless idea. And what is with removing cantina wire because it looks threatening to the public? What a joke! They did a poor job of it and left pools sticking up that look like a flag should be attached to. And to “that’s No”, those rules sound very applicable for a court facility. They aren’t there to be your friend; they are there to keep people safe. Both the public and the inmates, if you don’t understand that concept then you are more than welcome to throw yourself and whatever bombs may be smuggled in or step in front of gunmans shoot the joint up. If you don’t like the rules that anyone entering the building have to follow then don’t go there. See you do have a choice.
Posted: Sunday, November 08, 2009
Article comment by:
You Misunderstood Grace
Dear Gracie...You are so far off base it isn't even funny. The Editor edited the original title of my first comment. I don't think those rules are unreasonable at all. I was merely stating what the rules are because so many people think a courthouse is more like Wal-Mart and can't comprehend the concept of being quiet and acting appropriately. A courthouse is more like a library and not a sports bar. BTW, in one of the new courtrooms, the visitors won't even be able to see the inmates even though they're in the same courtroom. If you're coming to court to visit your friends or family, you will be sadly disappointed.
Posted: Saturday, November 07, 2009
Article comment by:
No name provided
Another taxpayer: I agree. I had to spend a few days in the jail and it doesnt look like it did a few weeks ago. The new color looks like something you would find in a used diaper. The fence where the police cars bring in the people they arrest looks ugly with those fence slats. The court house does look pretty though. It has copper all over the front and from what I could see from the outside, new stone floors. They went all out on this building. I was glad to see they got a few nice things inside for the people in the pod I was staying in, new flat panle tv's. I guess this is our tax money hard at work.
Posted: Saturday, November 07, 2009
Article comment by:
Another Taxpayer
When you come visit the new beautiful courthouse, you will also notice there has been some cosmetic changes to the jail. The barbed wire lining the top of the sallyport where arrestees are brought in, has been removed. Apparently, the BOS thought it was an eyesore. I guess appearance is more important than security. The jail has also been painted a very ugly shade of tannish-brown to match the new court building, although you will see it doesn't match at all. I would like to know who is responsible for selecting that hideous color because it makes me want to puke everytime I look at it.
Posted: Saturday, November 07, 2009
Article comment by:
No name provided
Sorry, should the judge and deputies allot some time for you to tell your repeat-offender husband how much you love him?
Posted: Saturday, November 07, 2009
Article comment by:
Gracie
That's no: You seem to think the "rules" you cite are unreasonable. It is not a movie theater, it's a courthouse. And it's not visiting hour at the jail for the inmates and their families.
Posted: Saturday, November 07, 2009
Article comment by:
that's No
Welcome to the new Camp Verde courthouse. Before entering the courtrooms please remove any hats, visors, bandanas and sunglasses. No food or beverages of any kind. No bubble gum or chewing gum. Cell phones turned completely OFF...not low volume or vibrate. And the #1 rule...absolutely, positively NO communicating with the inmates. Walk in, sit down and you may look at them and that is it. No waving, mouthing any words, hand signals or holding up signs.
