Johnson County preparing for November vote on courthouse annex

IOWA CITY - Johnson County's Board of Supervisors is ready to officially say how much money they will ask from voters, and when, for a project that would provide additional court space.

The supervisors said at a work session Thursday that they expect to vote next week on a resolution that establishes ballot language for a bond referendum and a November election date for a courthouse annex.

The building would go up immediately south of the existing county courthouse, 417 S. Clinton St. in Iowa City, and is intended to address space and safety concerns at the 113-year-old courthouse.

The current plan calls for a $30.8 million, 72,000-square-foot building with six new courtrooms, courtroom technology upgrades, a connection to the courthouse and four conference rooms.

The ballot language the supervisors plan to vote on next Thursday asks voters: 'Shall the County of Johnson, State of Iowa, issue its general obligation bonds in an amount not exceeding the amount of $30,800,000 for the purpose of erecting and equipping a County Courthouse Annex, to solve current safety, security and space needs of the court operations, in a structure to be located adjacent to, incorporating, and connected to, the existing historic courthouse?”

The supervisors also are expected to approve putting the issue on the ballot for the Nov. 4 general election.

It would be the third time in two years Johnson County voters have been asked to consent to funding plans related to the courthouse. The first two, in 2012 and 2013, were for a justice center that also would have included a new jail.

Those proposals received majority support but not the 60 percent required to pass, and opposition to the jail is widely considered to be the reason for their defeats. A jail bond issue also failed in 2000.

The supervisors in response have dropped, for now, plans for a new jail and instead will spend about $3.5 million on projects at the current jail, which officials say is overcrowded and unsafe.

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