Lewis County Justice Center Open for Business

The new "Lewis County Justice Center" received its certificate of full occupancy on Wednesday, March 24, 2021, and it is now officially open for business. General Sessions Judge, Mike Hinson, held the historic first court session in the building on Thursday, March 25, 2021 at 9:00 a.m.

The Justice Center is over 9,600 square feet and features two separate courtrooms (one for General Sessions Court and one for Circuit Court). It also has two Judge's Chambers, two Inmate Holding Cells, two huge Security Vaults, ADA compliant public restrooms, a large Jury Room/Conference Room, a large Utility Room, large separate offices for both the Circuit Court Clerk and the Clerk and Master, an office for the Judicial Commissioner, one Attorney/Client meeting room, several storage closets, and a kitchen/break room.

Since the early 2000's, Lewis County Government officials had been searching for some way to separate its Court System from its regular Courthouse offices, due to spacing issues and safety concerns. Both County Mayor Kenneth Turnbow and County Mayor Van Ward had looked at finding a vacant building or empty warehouse in Hohenwald to turn into a Justice Center during their administration, but nothing was available under $1 million at the time. County Commissioners also examined building a new Justice Center at the current Jail, but quotes for that project came in over $1 million as well.

However, an opportunity arose and presented itself for such a project in 2018, when the "Old Sentinel Trust Building" was purchased by Lewis County Government under County Mayor Bill Webb's administration at a Delinquent Tax Sale in June of 2018, for a very low price of just $230,000. Of that amount, $25,434 came right back to Lewis County Government's bank account in back taxes...so the building's actual cost to the County was only $204,566.

During the fiscal year 2019-2020, the County spent $116,631 on the building for renovations, remodeling and repairs. It's estimated that approximately 70% of that money was kept here locally, as the majority of those funds were spent with local contractors and on supplies purchased at our local hardware stores in our community. During the current fiscal year 2020-2021, the County has spent an additional $130,652 to complete renovations, as well as outfit and equip the building. It's estimated again that approximately 70% of that money has been kept here in Lewis County by spending it with local contractors and local hardware stores.

Also, out of those expenses, $25,000 was funded by the Governor's Local Government Support Grant, which required zero local match by the County. The parking lot of the Lewis County Justice Center was also paved, striped and outfitted during the summer of 2020 at a cost of $42,850, and fortunately, 100% of that was funded by the Governor's Local Government Support Grant, therefore zero local county tax dollars were used for that portion of the project!

Amazingly, as of March 31, 2021, Lewis County Government has only spent $426,848 in local tax dollars on purchasing, renovating & equipping its new Justice Center! This includes the purchase price of $204,565 + FY '19-'20 costs of $116,631 + FY '20-'21 costs of $105,652 = $426,848 (Excluding Back Taxes Returned to the County & State Funded Grants). This is an excellent example of your county government being fiscally responsible, and your elected officials being great stewards of your tax dollars.

Conservative estimates have the Justice Center appraising well over $1 million today, and experts have said that constructing and equipping the same facility would cost over $4 million in today's market. For a nearby comparison, the City of Mt. Pleasant allocated $2.9 million for their new Justice Center in 2018, and it is only 1/2 the size of Lewis County's new building; plus it only has one courtroom, and it does not have near as many offices nor amenities (source: https://www.columbiadailyherald.com/news/20180821/county-commission-approves-new-mt-pleasant-courthouse)

Lewis County Mayor Jonah Keltner stated that there will be a Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting at the Justice Center at 3:30 p.m. on Monday, April 19, 2021, followed by an Open House with refreshments until 5:30 p.m. The public is welcome and encouraged to attend.