• About
    • About Us
    • What We Cover
  • Advertise
    • Advertise
    • Our Advertisers
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Send News
  • Subscribe

Oak Ridge Today

  • Home
  • Sign in
  • News
    • Business
    • Community
    • Education
    • Government
    • Health
    • Police and Fire
    • U.S. Department of Energy
    • Weather
  • Sports
    • High School
    • Middle School
    • Recreation
    • Rowing
    • Youth
  • Entertainment
    • Arts
    • Dancing
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Television
    • Theater
  • Premium Content
  • Obituaries
  • Classifieds




County Commission approves 18-month lease for General Sessions Court

Posted at 10:05 pm December 17, 2015
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Anderson-County-General-Sessions-Court-Exterior-Nov-19-2015

The seven-year lease on the Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II, on Bus Terminal Road in Oak Ridge expires Dec. 31, 2015, but the Anderson County Commission on Thursday agreed to an 18-month lease to keep the courthouse where it is now. That will give county officials time to consider options for where to locate the courthouse. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 1:50 p.m. Dec. 18.

CLINTON—With no other alternative lined up yet, the Anderson County Commission on Thursday agreed to an 18-month lease for the Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge. That will keep the courthouse at its current home until mid-2017, giving county officials time to consider where to locate the General Sessions Court, Division II.

The courthouse is used by police officers in Oak Ridge, Oliver Springs, and Rocky Top, among other agencies and businesses.

The current seven-year lease expires at the end of the year, and officials have been trying to determine since October whether to keep the courthouse where it is now, find a new location in Oak Ridge, or move the Division II court to Clinton, where Division I is located.

County commissioners approved the 18-month lease at a rate of $5,500 per month during a Thursday evening meeting. The lease, which was approved 12-2, will not include a warehouse building used by the county at the courthouse site on Bus Terminal Road.

Advertisement

Under the lease expiring at the end of the year, the county had been paying $5,000 per month, plus reimbursement costs for renovations at the 5,000-square-foot courthouse. Tony Cappiello, president of Vintage Development, which owns the building, said there was $285,000 worth of renovations completed at the site, and the county reimbursed $185,000 over seven years.

To help with the lease extension, the City of Oak Ridge has offered, subject to City Council approval, a $25,000 payment in the city budget that starts July 1, 2016.

As courthouse options are considered, the city has also offered the former Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic building on Badger Road. The county could lease that building, which once housed the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association, for $1 per year for five years, City Manager Mark Watson said in a December 17 letter to Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank. The county would be responsible for renovation costs.

“I believe these options give the county some ‘breathing room’ on necessary decisions and approvals by the County Commission,” Watson said. “It also provides a low-cost/long-term option, saving the taxpayer monies needed in either lease costs or using existing rentals to invest in necessary building modifications on Badger Avenue.”

The city expects the county to make a decision on a permanent home for General Sessions Court, Division II, by March 2016, so Oak Ridge can plan its budgets and facility uses, Watson said.

“The Sessions Court is an important service to our community and greatly aids the convenience for Oak Ridge, Rocky Top, and Oliver Springs police officers,” Watson said.  “It is a strong desire of the City of Oak Ridge that this facility be continued, particularly with the crowded facilities found in the Anderson County Courthouse.”

Advertisement

Anderson County Commissioner Myron Iwanski helped negotiate the monthly rate in the 18-month lease from $6,200 down to $5,500 per month on Thursday.

“There is a strong desire to keep it in Oak Ridge,” said Iwanski, who represents part of the city.

But he expressed some frustration that commissioners hadn’t received information about the expiration of the courthouse lease or proposals about what to do next until so late in the process.

“It’s very frustrating that we are getting this at the 11th hour, just before the lease is about to run out,” Iwanski said.

Commissioners Zach Bates and Jerry White cast the only “no” votes against the 18-month lease. Commissioners Chuck Fritts and Tracy Wandell were absent. All other commissioners voted “yes.”

Frank has said that the county has been paying $84,000 per year to lease the Bus Terminal Road building, and there are other costs associated with maintaining it. The county pays insurance, property tax, and maintenance, and provides the cleaning service and life safety inspections, Frank said. If something leaks or breaks, the county has to repair it, she said.

Advertisement

General Sessions II was set up to ease the courthouse burden in Oak Ridge, and there was an initial agreement that it would be funded by Oak Ridge at $30,000 per year, or $2,500 per month. That money helped defray remodeling expenses at the Bus Terminal Road building, Watson said.

But that agreement only coincided with the tenure of former General Sessions Court Division II Judge Ron Murch, and the county no longer receives the $30,000 city contribution. Murch’s term expired in August 2014, when he lost an election to the new judge, Roger Miller. No money for the courthouse was included in the city’s current budget.

The General Sessions Court, Division II, was once located at the Oak Ridge Municipal Building. But it was moved to the Bus Terminal Road building, which once housed the city’s police station and later the Oak Ridge Utility District, because the city hall space was too small.

The Oak Ridge City Council approved a city manager recommendation in February 1993 to set up a General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge. The Tennessee General Assembly subsequently amended the private act that created the Anderson County General Sessions Court to add the second division for the City of Oak Ridge.

For 14 years, the Division II Court was located at the Oak Ridge Municipal Building. But in the late 2000s, the court began experiencing overcrowding and security problems, and the Anderson County Commission negotiated a lease at the former ORUD building, rather than moving the court to Clinton.

The new courthouse on Bus Terminal Road opened January 14, 2009.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Copyright 2015 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Filed Under: Anderson County, Anderson County, Front Page News, Government, Government, Police and Fire, Slider, Top Stories Tagged With: Anderson County Commission, Anderson County General Sessions Court, Chuck Fritts, City Council, City of Oak Ridge, Division II, General Sessions Court, Jerry White, Mark Watson, Myron Iwanski, Oak Ridge Utility District, Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic, Roger Miller, Ron Murch, Terry Frank, Tony Cappiello, Tracy Wandell, Vintage Development, Zach Bates

Advertisements

Join the club!

If you appreciate our work, please consider subscribing. Besides helping us, your subscription will give you access to our premium content.

Most of our stories are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our members—advertisers, subscribers, and sponsors.

But some are premium content, available only to members. Those are in-depth, investigative, or exclusive stories that are available only on Oak Ridge Today. They generally require at least four hours to report, write, and publish.

You can subscribe for as little as $5 per month.

You can read more about your options here.

We currently offer five primary subscription options to readers, and they include benefits.

Basic

  • Basic monthly subscription ($5 per month)—access premium content
  • Basic annual subscription ($60 per year)—access premium content

Pro

  • Pro monthly subscription ($10 per month)—access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month
  • Pro annual subscription ($100 per year)—save $20 per year, access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month

Temporary

  • Temporary access ($3 per week for two weeks)

We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here.

We also accept donations. You can donate here.

If you prefer to send a check for a subscription or donation, you may do so by mailing one to:

Oak Ridge Today
P.O. Box 6064
Oak Ridge, TN 37831

Thank you for your consideration and for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support.

Commenting Guidelines

We welcome comments, but we ask you to follow a few guidelines:

1) Please use your real name, including last name. Please also use a valid e-mail address.
2) Be civil. Don't insult others, attack their character, or get personal.
3) Stick to the issues.
4) No profanity.
5) Keep your comments to a reasonable length and to a reasonable number per article.

We reserve the right to remove any comments that violate these guidelines. Comments held for review, usually from those posting for the first time, may not post if they violate these guidelines. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Thank you also for reading Oak Ridge Today and for participating in the discussion.

More information is available here.

More Government News

TVA conducting maintenance at Bull Run

The Tennessee Valley Authority's Bull Run Fossil Plant is pictured above in Claxton on Monday, Aug. 27, 2018. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today) The Tennessee Valley Authority is conducting routine … [Read More...]

Horizon-Center-Motorsports-Track-6-Feb-11-2020

Planning Commission to discuss district that would allow motorsports park

Part of the site where a test track and research facility or motorsports park could be built on the back side of Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge is pictured above on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020. (File photo by John … [Read More...]

City has second public meeting on new entrance sign

Image courtesy City of Oak Ridge of a proposed sign along South Illinois Avenue/Pellissippi Parkway (State Route 62) The City of Oak Ridge will have its second public meeting on a new sign at the city's entrance on … [Read More...]

Council to discuss fatal police shooting, Gateway Project

Image courtesy City of Oak Ridge of a proposed sign along South Illinois Avenue/Pellissippi Parkway (State Route 62) The Oak Ridge City Council this evening will discuss a fatal police shooting in August and this … [Read More...]

Hear from ORNL scientists who worked on Perseverance mission

https://www.youtube.com/embed/mV1sYjE-zMU Video published on YouTube by Oak Ridge National Laboratory Three scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory will discuss their work this afternoon on technologies for the … [Read More...]

More Government

More Police and Fire News

Council to discuss fatal police shooting, Gateway Project

Image courtesy City of Oak Ridge of a proposed sign along South Illinois Avenue/Pellissippi Parkway (State Route 62) The Oak Ridge City Council this evening will discuss a fatal police shooting in August and this … [Read More...]

Oak Ridge Police Department Badge

DA: No charges will be filed in fatal police shooting

No criminal charges will be filed against three Oak Ridge Police Department officers after a fatal shooting on Briar Road in August, the county's top prosecutor said Monday. Seventh Judicial District Attorney General … [Read More...]

Eric Rackard is new Oak Ridge fire marshal

Eric Rackard The City of Oak Ridge has named Eric Rackard as its new fire marshal. Rackard, who has recently served as an Oak Ridge Fire Department battalion chief, takes on the new role following Travis Solomon’s … [Read More...]

ORFD photographer dies at 88

Tom Scott (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge) Tom Scott—photographer for the Oak Ridge Fire Department who kept historic fire trucks, equipment, and literature at his home—died Saturday. He was 88. Scott was born in … [Read More...]

Charles Mason Preliminary Hearing July 25 2019

For members: Mason indicted on attempted murder, assault charges

Charles Edward Mason, 53, has been indicted by the Anderson County Grand Jury on one count of attempted first-degree murder and five counts of aggravated assault, among other charges. He pleaded not guilty in Anderson … [Read More...]

More Police and Fire

Recent Posts

  • REAC/TS receives U.S. Secretary of Energy’s Achievement Award
  • TVA conducting maintenance at Bull Run
  • Basketball: Girls, boys play for district championships
  • Natural gas rates will rise, expected to drop when prices decline
  • Lady Wildcats play in district semifinal game Friday night
  • Planning Commission to discuss district that would allow motorsports park
  • City has second public meeting on new entrance sign
  • Council to discuss fatal police shooting, Gateway Project
  • Hear from ORNL scientists who worked on Perseverance mission
  • Bienvenue named first executive director of Oak Ridge Institute

Search Oak Ridge Today

About Us

About Oak Ridge Today
What We Cover

How To

Advertise
Subscribe

Contact Us

Contact Oak Ridge Today

Copyright © 2021 Oak Ridge Today