NUMBER OF CAPE GIRARDEAU COUNTY OFFICES SET TO MAKE MOVES

JACKSON - A decision by the Missouri Public Defender Commission to resituate its five-county office based in Jackson and a need for additional space for the juvenile department will result in moves of a number of county offices.

Cape Girardeau County Presiding Commissioner Gene Huckstep said the office shifts, which should be completed by the end of the year, will enable the county to resolve most of its space needs without construction or extensive remodeling.

Under the shift, the main offices of the prosecutor will be moved to Jackson and the administrative offices and detention center for the juvenile department will be in separate places.

For several years Huckstep has been arguing with the public defender commission over whether Cape County should provide additional space in the county courthouse. Because of an increase in staff and the addition of two other counties to the district, representatives of the commission have asked whether they could have additional space in the courthouse.

State law requires counties to provide "reasonable space" to the public defender, and Huckstep contended that efforts to get additional space constituted a violation of the Hancock Amendment. The Hancock Amendment prevents the state from passing programs that cost additional money to county governments without providing a means to pay for those costs.

Huckstep also protested that although the costs of providing the office space could be prorated, based on population between the counties, some counties might not pay their share, leaving Cape County taxpayers holding the bag. He said Bollinger County, due to financial problems, still owed the county for several years.

Public Defender Gary Robbins advised the commission recently that due to increasing office-space needs the public defender commission had decided to rent office space from a building owned by Jackson Exchange Bank across from the courthouse on Main Street.

Huckstep said Cape County's proportionate share of the cost is 42 percent, which amounts to between $4,500 and $5,000 each year. "We can't afford to have them in the county courthouse for $4,500," said Huckstep.

"The main thing is Bollinger County will have to pay, and we aren't the bill collector any more," he said.

The remainder of the rental costs will be divided with Scott County paying 28 percent, Perry County 12 percent, Mississippi County 11 percent, and Bollinger County 7 percent.

With the public defender moving out, Huckstep said a shift in offices will keep the county from having to expand the juvenile center by about 800 square feet, saving a considerable amount in construction costs.

"We always had plenty of space, but we just didn't have it in the right places," said Huckstep. "Now we do."

Huckstep said that after checking with other second-class counties, it was discovered that very few have their juvenile administrative offices in the same building as the detention center. Instead of adding to the present facility on Merriwether Street, Huckstep said the administrative offices will be moved to the upper level of the Common Pleas Annex now used by the circuit clerk.

Huckstep explained that there is a full-time detention supervisor on duty, which also makes the move practical.

Offices of the circuit clerk will be moved to the main courthouse in space presently used by the prosecuting attorney, and in the old law library.

The prosecutor will continue to have a small office in either the courthouse or annex, but its main offices will be shifted to the second floor of the courthouse in Jackson. The satellite office of the attorney general and an office used by the County Health Department's sanitarian will be moved from the second floor to the ground floor where the public defender is now.

Huckstep said after reviewing the space shifts, the county commission is satisfied that no one will be inconvenienced. "Everybody will have at least what they have now," he said.

The public defender will be moved out by Nov. 1, so the office switches will take place late this year or early next year.

Huckstep said that while the county won't have to build on to the juvenile center, plans to build a small addition to the county jail will have to proceed.

At the request of Sheriff Norman Copeland and the circuit judges, the commission has agreed to proceed with adding a dormitory area to the jail to provide more space for female prisoners. The present jail can only handle four to six female prisoners, which has forced the sheriff to house prisoners in other jails.