There's plenty of construction at the Law and Justice Center campus. The walls for the new courts building are starting to go up and county officials say that construction is moving along smoothly.
“Right on schedule as you can see, they're still placing block and they're starting to frame the outside walls,” said Gallatin County Chief Operations Officer Nick Borzak.
Walls are going up on the new $29 million, 67,000 square foot building replacing the old Law and Justice Center.
“So, they will work their way from east to west building the courtrooms,” said Borzak.
The new courts building will house four district courts and two justice courts in a space bigger than the current ones at the old L&J.
“So, they're about 300 square feet, I believe, larger than what they're currently in,” said Borzak.
The new courts building is being built to keep inmate transfers away from the public through new corridors connecting to the existing jail.
“Transport will take place where there's no interactions with the public. A lot of thought and work with the judges went into how this was laid out for efficiencies,” said Borzak.
The current building is also being designed for expansion in case the state decides to add a 5th judge to the district court.
“If we get a fifth judge, then we will finish it and then they will share the four court rules between five judges,” said Borzak.
Construction is expected to wrap up by fall 2024. The current law and justice center will be demolished right after.
