On Monday, August 4th, three members of the Lafayette County Board of Supervisors voted to block the long-planned return of the Lafayette County Circuit Court to the historic courthouse on the Square (beginning last summer more than $3 million has been spent to renovate the courthouse specifically for the Circuit Court).  I cannot overstate the negative reaction this has received from local citizens, the press and the Lafayette County Bar.  Every conversation I've had about the subject has quickly turned to shock and concern at the irresponsible action of the Supervisors.  For background, I'm going to cite and excerpt a number of articles below in chronological order from the beginning of the week through today.  Take some time to read the excerpts, click through and read the full article if you're inclined, and I'll catch you up on some additional political details tomorrow.  

The Lafayette County Board of Supervisors Monday approved a 31-day extension for Panola Construction Co. to complete the renovations on the Lafayette County Courthouse.

Some extra time may be necessary to allow supervisors and county officials time to battle out what county offices will actually be housed in the courthouse.

For at least three supervisors, that battle was settled Monday when they approved moving the Justice Court and its offices over to the courthouse. That’s instead of returning the Circuit Court to its original location from the Chancery Building, where it’s been held since courthouse renovations began last year.

Supervisors Ray Sockwell Jr., Johnny Morgan and Lloyd Oliphant also voted to allow civil and nonprofit organizations to have dedicated space inside the courthouse. Supervisors Mike Pickens and Robert Blackmon vehemently disagreed with the decision and both voted against it.

Pickens looked toward the audience of about 20 people and said Lafayette County residents need to come to the meetings and voice their opinions.

Planning Commissioner T.J. Ray asked when that would be possible, since there is no time for public comment on the board’s agendas.

“Mr. Pickens challenged the public to come to a meeting and voice their opinions ... on how stupid this discussion is, and I’m just curious when we can do that,” Ray asked.

“At the next meeting or today if they are here,” Oliphant replied.

“Oh, after you passed the motion?” Ray quipped

During the meeting, County Attorney David O’Donnell pointed out the county could not allow civic or nonprofit organizations to have dedicated space in the Courthouse unless the county declared the Courthouse surplus property.

The supervisors did not respond to O’Donnell’s statement.

Circuit Court Judge Andrew Howorth said he couldn’t comment on anything “political.”

“I don’t think I should comment in the event it’s politically motivated,” he said, and then added: “The Circuit Court has patiently awaited the renovations of the Courthouse and consented to the temporary move to accommodate the county. The docket has suffered from lack of space. I just hope the actions by the supervisors do not permanently affect the court’s ability to do business unless alternate space is made available.”

Circuit Court Judge Henry Lackey said he hopes the board will reconsider.

“Maybe we can work it out where everyone can live with it,” he said.

While the issue was voted on and passed Monday, it may not be the final word in who eventually winds up in the courthouse.

According to a Mississippi Supreme Court decision, the Circuit Court can issue an order that the current space in the Chancery Building is inadequate for court purposes and order the county to provide additional or different space, essentially vetoing the board’s decision.

The county has about $4.355 million in revenue from local funding, bonds and grants — both local and federal — set aside for the project. The city of Oxford kicked in $150,000 toward the renovations.

Pickens said in the applications of those grants, it was worded that the use of the Courthouse will be for the Circuit Court.

“I may not agree with everything the previous board did, but I will uphold their integrity,” he said. “They signed those applications for those grants and that’s what the building should be used for.”

According to Tom Howorth, whose Howorth & Associates Architects firm was hired in 2005 by the county to design the courthouse renovations, he was instructed to restore the building to be used as a courthouse.

Let me see if I’ve got this right. We’re capping a multi-million dollar renovation project on our county courthouse – that lovely, historic centerpiece of our square, our city and our county – and we’re not going to make full use of it as the main venue for our most important trials and legal proceedings?

We’re going to spend millions of dollars sprucing the place up and we’re going to leave three of our biggest county government offices – chancery clerk, circuit clerk and tax collector – all in a building that’s awfully nice but that wasn’t really built to hold all three?

Heck, we might as well go back nearly 30 years and leave some of the offices in the building – that houses Sneed’s Ace Hardware – they were moved to when we had a previous courthouse project. Then we could have skipped one of these major projects and made do with the space and saved the taxpayers millions.

Citing history, public safety and technology, the Lafayette County Bar Association on Tuesday called unanimously for Circuit Court to be returned to the Lafayette County Courthouse after renovations are complete.

Using the courthouse for anything other than the Circuit Court "is a waste of taxpayer dollars and jeopardizes the safety of the public," said Brooke Newman, Bar president. "Millions of taxpayer dollars have been spent to renovate the courthouse specifically for the Circuit Court."

"It's the most ridiculous thing I've heard come down the pike in the 52 years I've practiced law here," attorney Omar Craig said. "This is the courthouse. It's where court has always been held. For it not to be a courthouse is sacrilegious, and I don't understand their motivation."

"They spent a lot of money designing (the historic courthouse) to be used for that purpose, with special facilities for keeping criminals and accused criminals separate from the general population," attorney Holly Raney said. "You don't have those in the Chancery Building."

Sockwell, Oliphant and Morgan defended their vote Monday by saying the combined space has worked well for more than a year.

"It worked for a short period of time because it had to," said attorney Lew Yoder. "For a long period of time, it is not functional."

Lafayette County's Board of Supervisors seems intent on passing up an opportunity to have a working public landmark in permanently shifting circuit court sessions away from the Lafayette County Courthouse.

Supervisors, on a split vote, recently declared the courthouse off limits for a return of circuit court sessions, even though the landmark building in the middle of Oxford's town square has undergone a multi-million-dollar refurbishing to make it safe for circuit court and fully functional as a 21st century justice building.

Instead, the supervisors would move Justice Court into the courthouse on the spurious grounds it is the court closest to the "people."

The Lafayette County Bar Association has unanimously and correctly protested the supervisors' move as squandering a taxpayer investment and a slap at adequate security for the criminal court of record.

The 1873 structure - made iconic in its depictions in William Faulkner's novels set in fictional Yoknapatawpha County and the movies based on his books shot in Oxford - is a centerpiece of civic architecture in the historic town and fully functional for its most important courts...

"But above all, the courthouse: the center, the focus, the hub ... musing, brooding, symbolic and ponderable ... protector of the weak,"
- William Faulkner,
"Requiem for a Nun"

There's an old saying about county government: "Any three supervisors can sell the courthouse." Some folks think three of our leaders in Lafayette County have at least sold its soul.

Supervisors Ray Sockwell Jr., Johnny Morgan and Lloyd Oliphant voted, essentially, to make the Courthouse not the Courthouse. When renovation is finished on the big white building that dates from 1873, they intend to keep Circuit Court in the Chancery Building and move Justice Court and a host of unrelated entities into the main Courthouse.

If they have their way, no jury will ever sit in the Courthouse again. Headlines and historic moments will be replaced by speeding tickets and shoplifting charges...