Discussions Continue Over Future Of Tulsa County Courthouse

Everyone agrees the 75-year-old Tulsa County Courthouse needs some work. But County Commissioners are discussing exactly what needs to happen and how to get it done.

Wednesday, they met with the firm hired to come up with new ideas.

The consulting firm hired by county commissioners presented four ideas to remedy the aging courthouse, but their top recommendation was building an entirely new one.

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

The aging courthouse needs countless repairs. There are leaks in the roof, and it needs ADA renovations. Wednesday’s meeting was all about going over what options Tulsa County has to fix it all.

“There's a lot of choices and options out there, and you're gonna have to look at those as a commission group and as a public group," said one representative from the firm.

The option that Consulting firm Twenty20 Management ranked highest was building a brand-new courthouse complex near 7th and Denver. They say it could cost somewhere between $245 and $300 million and allow for future growth, something commissioner chair Kelly Dunkerley thinks is important.

"This new generation of leadership needs to take the same type of responsibility, the same type of process to evaluate everything that's important and to make a decision that gets us deep into the future, not just a 5-year band-aid," said Dunkerley.

Other options from the firm include renovating the existing courthouse and building a new 6-story criminal courts Annex in a lot just to the south.

That plan could cost nearly 400 million dollars.

"It would mean a lot to be able to go into a building that we are proud of, that we are safe in, and that the citizens of Tulsa could be proud of," said District Judge Dawn Moody.

She said regardless of what plan is chosen, safety is top of mind, something the current courthouse is lacking.

"We don't have separate elevators for the judges, the district attorneys, the public defenders to utilize, so I could be potentially in an elevator with a person that will then be appearing in front of me when I'm potentially about to send them to prison, so again it's a safety concern," she said.

Commissioners say a decision on what path to choose is at least a month away. For the full presentation of ideas, view below.