GUILDHALL, Vt. (WCAX) – The 170-year-old Essex County Courthouse in Guildhall is in serious need of upgrades, leading to a proposed tax increase for towns across the county.
“Given the age of the courthouse, the issue is really the layout and design of the courthouse,” said Essex County Sheriff Trevor Colby.
The county’s two elected assistant judges are preparing the budget and say this year they need to act on the renovation project. They’ve proposed an overall 20% increase divided amongst the towns in the county to address the problems plaguing the courthouse.
Colby says the issues have been on his radar for a couple of years now. “There is a push to modernize the court. We don’t have a good setup for having attorneys be able to meet with defendants. We don’t have separate spaces for them to be able to have their meetings. For the prosecutor to have a separate space on jury draw days. There’s also no prisoner space in the courthouse,” he said.
While upgrades are necessary, some local residents like Ed Clark, hope to keep the historic charm. “I don’t think there is any question about that. There have always been things that needed to be done to maintain the 19th-century wooden buildings. We just want to make sure that those things are necessary, that they are consistent with the character of the town,” Clark said.
Essex County officials have requested the Legislature reallocate $300,000 to undertake a capital construction project. The courthouse hasn’t been updated since 1993.
State Court Administrator Therese Corsones says improvements in overall safety, ADA compliance, and flood mitigation should be a priority. “The older courthouses might be the ones lacking those kinds of features. It is a kind of a neverending quest to ensure that the courthouses are safe for judges, for court staff, for litigants, for attorneys, for any court users,” she said.
Officials on Wednesday will be making the final decision on the budget and whether or not to include the increase to help fund upgrades to the courthouse.