Court cram: Council moves to alleviate overloaded system

Diana Sahagun

Monday, Nov. 6, 2000 | 11:40 a.m.

When North Las Vegas Municipal Judge Warren Van Landschoot enters his courtroom each morning, he no longer flinches when he sees more than 200 people packed in like sardines, with the unlucky few spilling out the door.

It's another day of court in the city's lone courthouse and single municipal courtroom with one judge. Van Landschoot hears 200 arraignments in his three-hour morning session alone.

Van Landschoot, though, could soon get some relief.

The City Council took the first step on Wednesday, approving a $527,400 contract with RAFI Architects to design a new courthouse.

The courthouse is part of the city's overall plan for a City Hall Campus, a $44.5 million project that eventually will also include a two-story police station, a new jail, a two-story community center, City Hall expansion and three parking structures.

The courthouse will sit on 8.25 acres that the city purchased at the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Civic Center Drive for $3.2 million.

The courthouse, however, is one of the few buildings for which funding has been identified, City Manager Kurt Fritsch said. Money would come from the existing Municipal Court, revenue from additional federal inmates housed at the detention center and municipal bonds, he said.

The existing courthouse will likely be remodeled and made available for other space needs for the city, Public Works Director Jim Bell said.

"The courthouse is one of our highest priorities because of the (judge's) extreme case load, they have outgrown the existing facilities, and the revenues are available," he said.

Preliminary plans call for the architects to design a minimum 25,000-square-foot building. It would include three courtrooms, offices for three judges, a hearing room, jury rooms, conference rooms, waiting areas and support space. The design will also provide for future expansion of the court building.

That expansion could come before ground is broken, Fritsch said. The city is considering expanding the building design to 100,000 square feet and making room for the detention center and administrative offices for the police department.

The city already has received a $5 million federal grant to build the new detention center, and construction was to begin this month.

A combined courthouse-detention center, however, could reap more space for both the jail and the police department.

The larger building would cost $30 million and take at least two years to construct, Fritsch said. In the coming months, the city will prepare a funding strategy to identify how to pay for the larger courthouse, if the council proceeds in that direction.

Either way, the extra space will be welcome.

Van Landschoot said the courthouse is deteriorating, and there is not enough space to accommodate business.

"Since I came in here, we have this place streamlined to the max. We use every available minute we can," said Van Landschoot, who was elected in 1997.

Van Landschoot said the new building will allow him more space to work cases and relieve pressure inside the courthouse.

What would help even more is a second judge, which would allow the municipal court to run two sessions at the same time.

That addition has yet to be considered by the North Las Vegas City Council, but Van Landschoot said the need is clear.

"Our volume will be past its max by the time we get the new court open," he said. "Every minute we'll be on the bench handling cases."