The Mason County Courthouse
By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief
PERE MARQUETTE TOWNSHIP — The Mason County Facilities Management and Planning Study Group held its inaugural meeting Wednesday at the Mason County Airport Terminal. The purpose of the group is to discuss the future of county owned and operated facilities. The group is a sub-group of the Mason County Board of Commissioners’ Building and Grounds Committee. Its members include Mason County Chief Judge Jeffrey Nellis, Mason County Undersheriff Derrek Wilson, Mason County Treasurer Andrew Kmetz IV, Mason County Administrator Kaitlyn Szcypka, and county commissioners Janet Andersen, Nick Krieger and Les Johnson.
Judge Nellis was appointed chair of the committee and Commissioner Krieger was appointed secretary.
“I’m very excited about this,” Nellis said during the meeting. “The county has been so incredibly financially responsible and has tried many different ways to get by. But, we are at a point where we need to do something with facilities.”
All in the group agreed that the biggest areas of concern are the Mason County Courthouse, built in 1893, and the Mason County Jail, built in 1960. The jail went through a major expansion in the late 1990s and the courthouse has been updated several times, with emphasis on historical preservation.
“I have thought about this a lot over the years,” Nellis said. “I love our courthouse and I probably have the best office in the county with big windows and lots of room. I’m not super excited to give that up. The courthouse is a treasure of this county and it is a huge source of pride for the people of this county. It’s beautiful. When it was built in 1893, it was state of the art. But, we are now in the 21st century. Things have changed. People have changed and the needs of the county have changed. Security is a huge issue. Space is an issue.”
Nellis has expressed his concerns with the current courthouse in the past, stating the facilities are no longer adequate to serve the needs of the judicial system.
While no decisions were made, nor will any be made any time soon, the committee members seemed to be in consensus that keeping offices such as the county clerk, county treasurer, register of deeds, and equalization at the courthouse makes sense.
In the 1990s, the county explored moving county offices, courts and jail to a location in Pere Marquette Township. At that time, there was a conflict with Michigan law that requires county records be kept in the county seat, which is the City of Ludington. However, that requirement would be fulfilled by only moving the courts and jail.
Krieger, who is an attorney, pointed out that Michigan law requires that the circuit maintain an office in the county seat, but it is allowed to conduct court in other locations within its jurisdiction. Both Nellis and Krieger discussed the fact that several Michigan counties have multiple courtrooms in areas beyond their county seats.
The group set is goals which include:
- Looking at all county facility needs and also the needs of related agencies.
- Conduct a needs assessment and determine who would conduct the assessment.
- Decide short term and long term goals.
- Create a community relations strategy.
- Research county growth statistics.
- Determine a budget for the group.
The next meeting of the group will be Wednesday, Feb. 11 at 6 p.m. at the airport.
Read related story here.
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