Next Tuesday, Washington County Commissioners are scheduled to vote on whether to issue $45 million in certificates of obligation to build a new Judicial Center next to the County Jail. An additional $16 million for a covered rodeo arena at the Washington County Expo has been removed from what was originally $61 million in certificates of obligation. Voters will decide the fate of that project during a bond election in November. However, a petition drive has been underway to force the Commissioners to put the Judicial Center up for a bond election, decided by the voters.

The new Judicial Center has been in the planning for over a decade. A building that probably would have cost maybe $15 million back then is now proposed for $45 million. While the Judicial Center is badly needed, I’m disappointed that the County chose to bypass the voters. Unfortunately, they tried to lump the covered rodeo arena into the CO’s by declaring the Expo grounds a park. While totally legal, that didn’t sit well with county residents who would rather see more money spent on roads. Since the Judicial Center will be primarily for criminal cases, I’ve heard grumbling from voters that say they’ll never see a benefit from that $45 million building because they’ll never have to walk through its doors. On the flip side, with the new building you’ll hopefully never have to conduct business in a courthouse with criminals waiting in the hallways. I’ve also heard the argument that $45 million should not be spent for a Taj Mahal building for criminals….that it should be a plain metal building that serves its purpose.

Here’s my take. Yes, the Judicial Center is badly needed. I would hope the building is kept as modest as possible, but you know how politicians like to see their name on fancy buildings. The County Commissioners should have moved on this project a decade ago. This supposed rush to get it approved before interest rates rise could have been avoided even with a bond election, had they started earlier. This is the largest project, by far, that Washington County has ever proposed. It should have been on the ballot as a bond election long ago. Now, the number of signatures on petitions will determine who gets to make the decision, the Commissioners or the voters. And that’s the way it looks to this Spectator.