By ALLISON WOOD

Staff Writer

GREENVILLE, Ohio — In the early 1990s, Darke County commissioners had to decide whether to expand the existing courthouse or construct another building in the county seat of Greenville.

They decided to move the juvenile/probate court to another building several blocks away from downtown, but security and economic concerns caused commissioners to rethink their decision.

Medina County commissioners also are considering moving courts off Public Square.

“Government needs to support their downtown and needs to be a part of downtown,” Darke County Commissioner Terry Haworth said. “In Darke County, Greenville is very important.”

He and the other two county commissioners have approved a plan to construct a three-story addition behind the Darke County Courthouse along with renovating the existing courthouse, he said.

This resolution only came after several years of exploring different options, which included constructing a new courthouse building next to the county jail outside the city limits, Haworth said. However, state law does not allow the construction of a courthouse outside the county seat.

To make room for the expansion, the county purchased and demolished several buildings behind the courthouse in Greenville after receiving city approval. Greenville, which has a population of 13,000, is the county’s only city.

The old and new sections of the courthouse will be separated by a hallway that also will serve as the main entrance, Haworth said. The expansion is still in the design stage with groundbreaking scheduled for next spring.

Although the county has a population of 53,000 and is located 45 miles northwest of Dayton on the Indiana border, Haworth said Medina County officials and others could apply Darke County’s experiences to their hometowns.

In Medina County, county commissioners are negotiating with Medina City Council to fund the construction of a parking deck, which would allow the county to keep all the courts on Public Square. A parking deck, which would be city-owned, would cost several million dollars to build.

However, commissioners also are considering moving the juvenile/probate and domestic relations courts to a site near the county jail off of Lafayette Road, Commissioner Sharon Ray said.

“We’re still looking at all the options,” Ray said. “We’re way past due on this.”

No matter what commissioners decide, she said any project would include renovating the existing courthouse.

“One-stop shopping”

Along with having the courts in a central location, the Darke County expansion would fix security concerns at the courthouse, Haworth said.

Two incidents of concern included an assault against the juvenile/probate judge and a case where a woman smuggled in a knife before being arrested by a municipal court bailiff.

“When it came to security, we knew there was something we had to do,” Haworth said.

The expansion project will include the construction of a separate inmate entrance, since they now must walk through several county offices on the way to the courthouse on the third floor.

The Darke County Courthouse, which was built in 1850, currently houses one other common pleas judge along with the municipal court and the offices of the county prosecutor, recorder, auditor and treasurer.

Until 1990, all the county offices were located at the courthouse, Haworth said.

The project is slated to cost between $7 million and $9 million, which is being funded by a 0.5 percent sales tax increase voters passed and from issuing bonds, Darke County Commissioner Michael Rhoades said.

“We want one-stop shopping for the courts,” he said, because the county currently has two separate clerk of courts offices, which causes some duplication.

Economic impact

Along with convenience, Haworth said placing all the county courts in the downtown area shows others the county is committed to Greenville’s future.

“It brings a dignity to the downtown community that you want there,” he said. “When businesses see a downtown that’s not well kept, it doesn’t give a good feeling about the community.”

In addition to courthouse employees, many of Darke County’s attorneys also have offices within walking distance of the courthouse, he said.

The courthouse expansion also is bringing new businesses to downtown Greenville,

Main Street Medina, an organization of merchants near Medina’s Public Square, is trying to gather information and statistics as part of an effort to keep all the county’s courts in the historic district, said Chairman Ed Wright, owner of Miss Molly’s Tea Room.

He said he found out about Darke County from his involvement in Heritage Ohio, since Greenville is also a member of the organization, a historic preservation not-for-profit.

“We don’t want to sit back and let the courts move away from the historical district,” Wright said.

Wood may be reached at 330-721-4050 or allisonwood@ohio.net.