Courthouses' shortcomings cited in county's consolidation plan

Plans to consolidate court services in Cape Girardeau County have given court employees like Patti Wibbenmeyer a chance to talk about the issues they see every day at the historic Common Pleas Courthouse in Cape Girardeau and courthouse in Jackson.

County commissioners have discussed the consolidation of services into a new courthouse for more than a year and have turned to court employees to help them explain why they believe this is necessary for the county.

Wibbenmeyer worked in the circuit clerk's office in Cape Girardeau for 29 years before she became circuit clerk, a position she's held for four years. She's arranged court schedules to place those with disabilities at the Jackson facility -- which has an elevator, unlike its Cape Girardeau counterpart.

But she's also seen those who have no choice but to use Common Pleas struggle to navigate wheelchairs into its small restrooms or rely on assistance from others to make it upstairs to a courtroom. When Wibbenmeyer shared such stories at a recent open-house meeting to discuss the county facilities plan, she was met with skepticism. Some questioned how often such incidents occurred.

"It's not so rare," she said in a recent phone interview, recalling several instances where accessibility was hindered for people with disabilities.

Accessibility

Those who have difficulty climbing stairs sometimes have no choice but to visit Common Pleas for court needs. The services they need may be provided only in Cape Girardeau, which primarily deals with civil matters, or the Jackson courtroom may not be available. Lack of availability presented such a problem just last week.

A murder trial was scheduled in Jackson, which was chosen specifically because it's easier to transfer the defendant from the county jail across the street. A medical malpractice case was scheduled the same week -- also a jury trial -- at Common Pleas. But the plaintiff in that case was an amputee and had to be carried up the stairs to the courtroom.

While Circuit Judge Scott Lipke has helped his share of people up the stairs at Common Pleas, he worries about court accessibility from another angle. His Thursday morning docket can bring in up to 100 people. People line a small hallway outside the courtroom and spill onto the courthouse's main floor "filling up every square foot of space," he said.

Add about 70 people showing up to the courthouse for jury duty, and space becomes more scarce.

Adequate space for jurors in jury trials is a problem at both courthouses, Presiding Circuit Ben Lewis said.

"If we have a jury trial here [at Common Pleas}, there's no place to sit," he said. "We have a jury room for 12 people, but no jury assembly room, in either courthouse."

Parking is insufficient for jury trials as well, he said.

The separate courthouses also cause some confusion, Lewis said. Jurors, lawyers and witnesses -- especially those unfamiliar with the area -- sometimes show up at the wrong courthouse.

"Somebody goes to the wrong courthouse pretty much every day," he said. "You just have to be patient when that happens."

Security

For Lipke, security is among his top concerns. When the judges leave their offices to visit another part of the courthouse or exit the building, they may encounter someone who's just been handed down an unfavorable ruling. A few security measures have been implemented, including full-time bailiffs posted on the main level of Common Pleas, but Lipke said the county has done about all it can to increase security.

When he considers security concerns in the court, Lipke doesn't just worry about judges. He hears adult abuse cases, where opposing parties share the narrow hallway outside his courtroom.

"These are the people they're trying to get protection from, and now they may be sitting right across from each other," he said, noting it was a perfect climate for altercations to arise. "It's a highly emotionally charged docket, to say the least."

Lewis said concerns are similar in Jackson, where witnesses and the families of both parties easily could bump into each other, even though they're not supposed to interact.

Both security and the accessibility issues open possibilities for lawsuits, Wibbenmeyer said. She recognizes voters may not be enthusiastic about the proposed use tax the county plans to take to voters in April to pay for construction of the new courthouse.

"I'd rather see the money go to [a new courthouse] than to a lawsuit," said Wibbenmeyer. "One lawsuit could cost as much as a new courthouse."

Utilities

The roughly 160-year-old Common Pleas Courthouse is becoming more difficult to outfit with new technology. Installing new cables for phones, computers and other technology needs is sometimes not possible, Wibbenmeyer said.

Heavy rains can knock out the building's ability to make or receive long-distance calls, Lipke said. This happened about two weeks ago, he said, and people had to be notified to call the Jackson courthouse, which was able to transfer calls to Common Pleas.

Heating and cooling is another problem at the Cape Girardeau courthouse. The system runs on heated or chilled water, Lewis said, so the options are heat, air or nothing. It takes a full day to switch from heat or air. It's especially problematic during unexpected heat waves or cold snaps, the judge said.

Sometimes, a reasonable temperature can be reached by opening windows, but that's not a perfect solution.

"If you open the windows and a train comes by, you have to stop and wait until it goes by," said Lewis. Horns from boats passing on the Mississippi River cause a similar problem, he said.

Many employees in the courthouse have space heaters for the particularly cold days, but Lipke said the devices have been known to overload circuits. To access the breaker box, employees must head down a narrow staircase to a damp basement. The lower level -- referred to as "the dungeon" by many -- houses a number of filing cabinets and is made up in part by the historic jail, complete with a dirt floor.

Wibbenmeyer said employees have handled these issues for many years and said it was a matter of time until the county would be forced to take action -- in the form of a new courthouse or major renovations to existing facilities. Lewis said the historic courthouses have served the county well over the years.

He and Lipke told of their appreciation of the courthouses' pasts, especially Common Pleas.

"It's a beautiful building on the outside and a really neat courtroom on the inside," Lewis said. "You can try a jury trial and watch boats go by on the Mississippi, and very few courts in the world are like that."

srinehart@semissourian.com

388-3641

Pertinent address:

44 N. Lorimier St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.

1 Barton Square, Jackson, Mo.