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A review of alternatives by the Ward County Commission's building committee on Friday, Oct. 9, has led the county and City of Minot down a new path for hosting Minot Municipal Court in the county's Courthouse.
The change in direction will require Minot's city staff to delve into the new plans and crunch numbers this coming week on converting Courthouse file rooms into municipal court space.
County Commissioners Jim Rostad and John Fjeldahl, who make up the building committee, met with city representatives, North Central District and municipal court judges and other court staff on Friday after receiving a tour of Courthouse space on Thursday.
City Assessor Ryan Kamrowski, who has led a city committee's efforts to find new municipal court space, presented four Courthouse-based alternatives that wouldn't require use of Courtroom 100. The city and county were moving toward shared use of Courtroom 100 before district court judges shot down the proposal.
"The position of the district court, as far as giving up courtroom space or office space, is a hard no," presiding Judge Gary Lee told the commissioners. "To take anything away from us, whether it's a courtroom or whether it's where court administration is, that's going to have a significant impact on our operations, and it's going to hamstring us."
Lee suggested the city look at the old city council chambers in the police station, current city council chambers or remaining in the current location in Minot Municipal Auditorium, which don't require renovation. He said the security concern that is driving the search for new space could be addressed by using audio-visual equipment for jail inmates rather than transporting them to municipal court, which is a common solution in district court.
As a taxpayer, Lee said, he doesn't consider spending about $50,000 to renovate space in the Courthouse to be the best option when fines and fees already fall about $163,000 short of meeting the municipal court's budget of $763,129.
"Even if they stay where they are, they're already $163,000 in the hole. Now, they're going to add $50,000 of building costs on that," he said. Additionally, the space would be leased, adding additional cost, he said.
Kamrowski responded the city takes those costs into account in analyzing sites, just as it considers cost savings and the benefits of being in a dedicated judicial building. He noted the city has considered the sites mentioned by Lee as well as constructing space in a parking ramp.
Rostad said there's many aspects of shared space that have appeal and make pursuing a Courthouse solution worthwhile.
"When we took a tour yesterday there's a lot of space in there that we're using to store records," he said. "I just am at a loss where it's absolutely a hard no, where we can't make this work, because I think we can."
Lee agreed using large rooms to hold paper files isn't the best use of the Courthouse. There was discussion around moving the files to other areas in the Administration Building, freeing space that could be used by municipal court with some remodeling.
Rostad and Fjeldahl favored two of the alternatives that would involve remodeling file rooms for municipal court.
"We'll dive into those two alternatives and the costs associated with both," Kamrowski said. The intention is to have that evaluation done so information can be provided at the city council and county commission later this month.
The cost of a move hasn't been factored into the city's 2027 budget, according to City Manager Tom Joyce, who also noted the city likely could absorb costs that aren't significant. Whether the current alternatives are worth the cost will come once the evaluation is completed, he said. However, getting past the district court's objections is seen as a positive.
"At least we are at this step," Joyce said.