After working with 11 different design firms on 28 failed resolutions, Potter Lawson was selected and successful in bringing consensus on the County Board to design a two-phase justice center on the edge of town.

Phase I was a 134,545 sf Justice Center and Health and Human Services Building.  It has two jury-ready circuit courts, judicial offices, Clerk of Courts, Child Support, and District Attorneys offices.  The Jail and Sheriff’s Department has 108 beds, with plans to increase the capacity to 124 beds.  The Department of Health and Human Services, Information Services, and Veteran’s Services Department are located in a 20,000 sf portion of the building which includes 12,000 of shelled out space for future expansion.

Phase II was a 25,433 sf addition that allowed the County to relocate the remaining departments from the existing downtown Courthouse to the new campus.   The addition features a new county board meeting room, flexible training facilities with a separate break room and kitchen.

Having all employees in one building greatly improves staff efficiency, and saves on-going costs for the County.  The project is LEED Silver Certified and has many sustainable features.  Some of the features include:

– Ample bicycle parking to encourage employees to ride to work
– Energy star white reflective roof to reduce solar gain
– Building automation system helps to maximize energy efficiency
– Solar tubes bring natural daylighting into interior offices and skylights provide natural light in the jail dayrooms.
– High efficiency light fixtures with occupancy sensors are located throughout the facility
– Solar shades on the south side of the building reduce glare and heat gain.
– Geothermal heat pump heating system, and heat recovery system save on-going energy costs
– 20% of building materials were produced regionally