When a citizen asked the Seminole Board of County Commissioners if there was any truth to talk about a new courthouse for Seminole County, District One Commissioner Russell Yott replied that there has been talk, but so far talk is as far as the project has gone.

Yott explained that the Commissioners have received $2.3 million from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), but there needed to be a plan for the funds before they can be used. They determined the funds would best be uses on a new courthouse, to alleviate some social distancing and security issues. However, Yott stressed they are still not certain if these funds will be approved for that purpose or not. Hopefully, they will find out soon, perhaps this week. They do know there is a four-year deadline for using these funds.

The citizen pointed out that, instead of constructing a new building, they might consider rehabilitating the present courthouse, offering the recently remodeled Pontotoc County Courthouse in Ada as an example. Yott agreed the Ada project was nice, but there were some foundation issues with the current Seminole County Courthouse he was concerned with. He also noted that there is a growing amount of maintenance, such as a recent $400,000 elevator repair and another $400,000 repair bill on the air conditioning, that might make a new building a wiser investment in the long run. The current courthouse is also running out of storage area.

If these funds are approved for building a new courthouse, they would like to use a full city block that would allow for more parking while making the courthouse a single-story building. They would like to move dispatch into a secure, bomb-proof room in the basement of a new building, which would fit one of the requirements for using the funds.

Yott repeated that, so far, this has simply been an ongoing discussion, because they are still not sure the ARPA funds can be spent on this type of project, and they are waiting until they are positive before moving forward.

Earlier in the meeting a Seminole County resident inquired about an extension on 3550 Rd. complaining he road desperately needs gravel and grading. He reported there are ten families that are landlocked at that location that use the road continuously.

District Two Commissioner Tim Porter stated it was his understanding the road had been closed. The citizen replied that, according to his attorney, the road wasn’t properly decommissioned, which requires all landowners be give and 24-day notice. The judge has ordered mediation between the ten landowners and the party that has closed the road, and if there are no results from mediation, then they will take the dispute to court.

Commissioner Yott stated that it was his understanding that the 24-day notice was only for section line roads, and in this instance where it isn’t a section line and the road actually wanders through a pasture, the property automatically reverts back to the property owner when the county vacates it for six months. Porter added, until the case between landowners is wrapped up, he wasn’t going to get involved.

The citizen concluded by asking the commissioners to please research the law on this issue, and if they are able to help in any way, he would greatly appreciate it.