COURTHOUSE RESTRAINING REQUEST WITHDRAWN; MISSISSIPPI COUNTIAN HOPED TO HALT DEMOLITION

CHARLESTON -- Mississippi County Courthouse restoration proponent Hugh Hunter Byrd has withdrawn a court petition seeking a restraining order to halt demolition of the county's burned-out courthouse.

His decision will end legal debate -- at least for now -- regarding restoration of the courthouse, which was partially destroyed by an arson fire Feb. 10.

Byrd petitioned Scott County Circuit Judge Anthony Heckemeyer in July to stop demolition of the building by Mississippi County commissioners, who had voted to raze the building to make way for a new courthouse.

A court hearing had been set for 3 p.m. Friday to hear arguments on the request for a restraining order. Byrd's attorney Richard Steele withdrew the petition Wednesday afternoon.

Byrd said he reconsidered his petition in part because of low voter turnout during the election Tuesday when voters approved a three-year, half-cent sales tax to finance construction of a new courthouse.

The Mississippi County clerk's office recorded 1,491 votes -- about 15 percent of the county's registered voters -- on whether the county should adopt the sales tax to finance construction of a new courthouse. More than 55 percent of those voting supported the tax increase, which will generate an estimated $1.7 million over three years.

That revenue will be combined with about $1.5 million in insurance money to finance construction of a 20,000-square-foot courthouse at the spot where the old one stands.

"I spent months working on this thing, and if people are too lazy to even go vote, then God help them," Byrd said Wednesday. "What people tell you, and what happens in reality, are two different things. I think there was a very poor turnout of people, but if that's what the majority wished, I think that's the way we should go."

Residents wanting to restore the 96-year old courthouse have sought a number of avenues to prevent demolition of the building. They presented signed petitions, restoration proposals and letters of support from various agencies, but were unable to impress county commissioners, who wanted a new courthouse.

County Commissioner Homer Oliver expected the hearing to be postponed. Before learning of the petition's dismissal, he said he thought passage of the sales-tax hike represented the opinion of county residents.

"We are not going to restore the old courthouse," he said. "It's very possible now that the people of Mississippi County have exercised a vote that that hearing may not amount to a great deal.

Presiding Commissioner Jim Blumenberg said a judge hearing the petition might have issued a temporary restraining order on Byrd's petition, "but county officials are elected to make decisions for the people of the county." Regardless of any debate, he said, the sales tax has passed and commissioners have the funding for a new courthouse.

"The County Commission has voted to build a new courthouse, and that's what the sales tax is for, and that's what we're going to do," he said.