Mineral County Executive Summary

Front of Courthouse Front of Detention Center

The Mineral County courthouse was built in the late 1890s, and is approximately 18,000 square feet. It is three stories with a bell tower. The exterior of the building is brick and block, both of which have extensive water damage, moss, mold and staining located all over the outside of the building. The brick and stone should be cleaned and re-pointed to restore the courthouse. This building also has some cracks in the exterior walls that necessitate an engineering study to determine the cause and proper repair of these cracks. The interior walls of the courtroom should also be repaired. The roofs on the courthouse (both the flat and sloped) are in good condition.

The windows through out this building were replaced approximately six years ago and are in good condition. The doors are also in good condition but there is a need for the entry doors to have panic hardware installed.

This building has emergency lights and exit lights, but there is no other fire safety equipment in the building. We recommend that the building be equipped with both fire alarm and sprinkler alarm systems.

To meet ADA compatibility requirements, there should be a new parking space made off of the street. The current parking space will not allow a person in a wheelchair who parks in the space to use the curb ramp. There is no accessible restroom. We recommend the installation of an ADA unisex restroom. New lever handles, new signage, and a witness stand/Judges bench lift should be installed.

To improve security in the building, we recommend that there be an installation of a walk-through metal detector and an X-ray machine on a first floor entrance. The building also needs an audible alarm, magnetic contacts, and a crash bar on all exit doors except on the main entry. Duress alarms are needed beneath the judge’s desk, secretary’s desk, judge’s bench in the courtroom, hearing table in the jury room, and the clerk’s desk, the family court judge’s office, the adult and juvenile probation officers offices, prosecuting attorney’s desk, the receptionist’s desk, and the table in the conference room. Additional duress alarms are needed beneath the front counter, an office desk, magistrates’ desks, the magistrates’ assistants’ desks, and the bench in the courtroom. Prosecution and defense witnesses should have separate witness rooms and rest rooms to avoid threats and assaults. We recommend that the judge’s bench and clerk’s desk be protected on the front and sides that have public exposure with ballistic material and the window glass should be tinted to eliminate outside view through the windows in the courtrooms and jury room. All light switches in public areas should be key-controlled switches, and breaker boxes should be locked. There should be an installation of a phone line to provide the court and the staff with outside communication in case of power failure. We also recommend that any bush, shrubbery, or trees surrounding the courthouse and parking lot, which may provide cover to an assailant, be removed, trimmed, or cut down.

The electrical system through out the building is in good condition. The building uses a condenser tank to cool the courtroom and window units are used to cool the rest of the building. We recommend that a central air handling system be installed in the courthouse for aesthetics and energy efficiency.

The detention center was built in 1978 and is in good condition. We recommend that the building be remodeled for storage. Also during this renovation, the building should be made compliant with ADA regulations, and the proper security system should be installed.

Total cost of project: $1,299,360.

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