IFN Staff

Less than six years after the Iredell County Detention Center expansion was dedicated, the inmate population now regularly exceeds the jail’s 501-bed capacity.

Rather than begin plans for the next jail expansion, the Iredell County Board of Commissioners has decided to accelerate a long-overdue expansion of the Iredell County Hall of Justice. Adding additional Superior Court courtrooms would enable the judicial system to dispose of felony cases faster, meaning individuals facing longer prison sentences would be transferred into the state prison system sooner instead of spending years awaiting trial in the local jail.

During their budget retreat last week, commissioners directed staff to begin the process of selecting a company to design a three-story, 64,100-square-expansion to add courtroom space and the District Attorney’s Office. The existing courthouse space would also be modernized.

A consultant estimated the project’s cost at $65 million, but county officials conceded the actual cost could be much higher.

With construction of a $130 million high school underway and a $52 million elementary school on the horizon, commissioners took a hard look at the county’s major facility needs — including a new health department, a new ag center at the fairgrounds and a public safety center for Mitchell Community College — and possible funding sources for the courthouse project.

Commissioners decided to remove the health department from their list of priority projects, freeing up close to $10 million designated for that project. They also have the option of allocating $30 million from a fund reserved for capital projects and pulling the rest from the county’s $114 fund balance. Taking on debt for the project did not appear to have any support.

Chief Resident Superior Court Judge Joseph Crosswhite met briefly with the board during the retreat. Without access to additional courtroom space, he did not hold out much hope that the jail population would be decreased any time soon.

Based on the county’s population and the number of criminal indictments, the state has approved three Superior Court judges for Iredell County. However, because of insufficient courtroom space, two of those judges are regularly assigned to other counties.

Iredell County typically has 26 weeks of criminal Superior Court each year — with the rest of the time set aside for civil cases. With three Superior Court courtrooms, all three judges would be assigned to work in Iredell, and the county could have 70 weeks of criminal Superior Court each year, Crosswhite said. 

The choice facing county commissioners, Crosswhite said, is adding courtroom space or adding onto the jail.

“We’ve been at this critical stage for a while,” the judge said. “It’s not going to get better. There’s no more juice to squeeze out of this lemon.”

Design for the project is expected to take 12 to 18 months.