County gives courthouse back to Cape Girardeau

It took less than a couple of minutes Thursday morning for the Cape Girardeau County Commission to sign paperwork handing over the county’s interest in the Common Pleas Courthouse to the City of Cape Girardeau.

“We’re out,” Presiding Commissioner Clint Tracy announced after he and commissioners Paul Koeper and Charlie Herbst signed a quitclaim deed vacating the county’s 50% interest in the courthouse and annex building in downtown Cape Girardeau. The action came during the commission’s regular business meeting.

“Basically, we’re conveying our half-interest (in the buildings) back to the City of Cape Girardeau,” Herbst said.

The county and city have shared responsibility for the historic courthouse for more than 60 years.

“In 1954, the federal government quitclaim deeded the Common Pleas Courthouse to the City of Cape Girardeau, and in 1959, the City of Cape Girardeau quitclaim deeded 50% of the physical brick and mortar building to the county of Cape Girardeau so the county could participate in some upgrades and additions to the building,” Herbst explained.

He said the quitclaim deed signed by the commissioners Thursday serves as a “notice of termination” of the most recent agreements between the county and the city, which date back to 1979 and 1980, regarding the shared control of the Common Pleas Courthouse and the Courthouse Annex, which was originally the Cape Girardeau Public Library when it was built a century ago.

According to Tracy, the county has until June 1 to move any county property out of the Common Pleas Courthouse. The county’s new courthouse in Jackson is scheduled for completion by April 1.

Meanwhile, work is expected to begin later this year to incorporate the Common Pleas Courthouse and Courthouse Annex into components of a new Cape Girardeau City Hall complex.

Other actions taken by the commissioners Thursday included:

• Reappointment of Jane Wernsman, director of the Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center, to serve as the county’s health officer.
• Approval of the county’s financial statement for the year ending Dec. 31, 2019.
• Establishment of a $200 daily rental fee for the new lakeside gazebo at Cape County Park South.

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