Tulsa County Courthouse: To Repair Or Rebuild? New Insights From Consultants

Tulsa County Commissioners have more information now about the possibilities for the Tulsa County Courthouse.

The Commissioners hired consultants to study the building as they considered whether to make substantial repairs or build a new building.

One firm told commissioners the current courthouse needed $50 million in repairs to meet current needs, while another firm said even that would not be enough to meet expected needs. Commissioners particularly mentioned the need for security updates at the entrances and changes so people who are in custody are not in common areas with the public.

Consulting architect Jeff Lane told Commissioners the type of major renovation needed at the courthouse would be very expensive and disruptive to court operations.

”You need to decide, where do you spend the money to get where you want at the end of the day,” said Lane.

Commissioners have to consider how much to invest in the 75-year-old building, regardless of whether they decide to build a new one. The problems run as deep as the foundation, where parking under the building is a security risk and not big enough to meet the needs.

The consultants said the County needs more than 80,000 additional square feet to meet increasing needs for court space, but commissioners haven’t committed to building new or renovating what’s there now. 

“If we find out it can meet our needs or it cannot, then we can start evaluating other options. That may be another location or an additional location, but we’re not there yet. We’re focusing on what we have now, how can we make it work and be user-friendly,” Commission Chair Kelly Dunkerly said.

If the County builds a new courthouse on another site, Commissioners have committed to keeping it within the Inner Dispersal Loop.

“It’s very difficult and not advantageous to leave downtown Tulsa,” said Dunkerly.

Tulsa County Sheriff Vic Regalado believes a new building is the better solution, and it needs to be near the jail.

“Patching it up will buy us some time, but in 5 or 10 years, we’re back here saying, 'What do we do?' We have to think 20-30 years down the road. Having it close to the jail is extremely important, so I hope whatever decision is made, it’s in the proximity of David L. Moss,” he said.

The Commission will get a final report on the expected needs this week and does not have a timeline for making a decision on how to proceed. Consultants are already examining potential sites for a new location, whether that’s an auxiliary building or an entirely new courthouse complex.