Expanded Family Court to be completed after New Year’s

Erica D. Johnson

Monday, Dec. 9, 2002 | 10:03 a.m.

The new year will mark the completion of several construction and remodeling projects at the 7-year-old Family Court building, court officials said.

Three additional courtrooms should be ready at the District Court's Family Division, 601 N. Pecos Road, by the first week of January, officials said.

Newly elected Family Court Judge Jennifer Elliot will occupy one of the new courtrooms beginning Jan. 6 when she starts her term, said LaDeana Gamble, manager of Family Court Mediation.

Elliot is the only newly elected Family Court judge.

The other two new courtrooms will be used for special hearing masters and commissioners, she said.

With 11 Family Court judges and five hearing masters, the addition of the courtrooms was critical, Gamble said.

"As we keep getting judges, we have to build new courtrooms," she said. "We just needed more space. Some judges had to give up their courtrooms one afternoon of each week for hearing masters."

Construction will also be completed on a new judicial chamber by Dec. 18, Gamble said.

The court's Family Law Self Help Center is being remodeled to include three new computer centers.

Court officals have not been given a completion date on the project, Rachelle Resnick, the center's director, said.

Each month, 8,000 to 10,000 people use the center to fill out legal forms and court documents pertaining to their cases in Family Court, she said.

The total cost for the construction so far is about $899,000, but by the time everything is finished in February, the final cost is expected to be about $1.4 million, District Court spokesman Michael Sommermeyer said.