Franklin County judicial center nears completion: Here's what you need to know

After several years of demolition and construction in Chambersburg, Franklin County is nearing the end of a landmark project to improve its court and administrative facilities. 

The headlining structure of the Court Facility Improvement Project is the Franklin County Judicial Center. Neighboring the historic 1864 courthouse on Memorial Square, its big shining windows line offer a perfect vantage point onto downtown Chambersburg. 

The third completed part of the five-piece project, the new home of the county's Court of Common Pleas and other judicial functions, is set to open around the end of the month. 

Here is what you need to know. 

Why would I need to go to the judicial center?

If you are called up to jury service, need a marriage license, are filing for divorce or child custody, have business with the sheriff’s office, or are a defendant or a victim in a court case, you may need to go into the judicial center.

The judicial center will be home to the prothonotary, clerk of courts, court administration, sheriff’s office and six courtrooms of the Court of Common Pleas, including one for central court that provides significantly more space than the current one.

These offices and functions will all move over from the courthouse annex. 

Most people will probably never need to go into the building. Even if you need, for example, a permit from the sheriff's office, you can handle the paperwork via mail. 

Court Facility Improvement Project has five parts

Franklin County's Board of Commissioners approved the Court Facility Improvement Project in 2018. While discussions over the years focused on a need for updated court facilities, the county also needed better spaces for its other functions and departments. Here's what the project includes. 

Archives Facility: The old Jennings auto dealership at 340 N. Second St. has been converted into a storage space where county records, including important historical documents, are preserved and accessible to county offices and the public. Before the storage facility opened about two years ago, records were kept in the basement of the old courthouse and not protected from humidity and other risks. The more than 14,600-square-foot facility also includes office space. 

Administration Building: Located across the street from the archives building at 272 N. Second St., this building is home to the Franklin County Commissioners' office, voter registration, register and recorder, planning and tax services, property management, accounts payable, human resources, information technology, the county controller, and the Criminal Justice Advisory Board and grants management. It opened in February. 

Renovations at the Old Courthouse and the Courthouse Annex: Many of the departments currently found in the annex, the building which runs along Lincoln Way East behind the Old Courthouse, are moving to the new judicial center. Some county offices in buildings around town will move into the annex: adult probation on the ground floor; juvenile probation on the second floor; domestic relations on the third floor; the district attorney's office, which currently takes up half of the fourth floor, will spread out across the rest of the top floor. The public defenders' office will move from the other half of the annex's fourth floor to remodeled offices on the first floor of the Old Courthouse. Courtroom 1, the large courtroom on the second floor of the Old Courthouse, will receive some technology upgrades. Dave Keller, chairman of the board of commissioners, said the commissioners wanted to make sure this courtroom, which has been used since 1864, can still be used for judicial purposes. Once the judicial center opens and cases are being tried there, the historic courtroom will probably be used for naturalization ceremonies, medical malpractice cases, and other trials and events that require plenty of space or the traditional atmosphere. 

Project focused on improving safety, security and efficiency

At more than 100,000 square feet, the judicial center roughly doubles the size of the courthouse campus situated at the corner of Lincoln Way East and North Main Street in Chambersburg. This additional space was necessary to fix long-standing issues in the court facilities and to consolidate

County officials began making the case for expanded and updated court facilities in 2008. By that time, it had become clear that the historic courthouse and its annex were too cramped for the number of people using them each day, unfriendly to technology, and posed potentially dangerous situations for victims, defendants and bystanders. Studies called for a significant expansion of the courthouse, but then the economy tanked as the recession hit and commissioners decided to hold off on the project.  

Since the last major expansion of the county courts in 1979, the county's population has increased by about 40%. Also since that time, three Common Pleas judges were added on the bench to accommodate the growing caseload, along with more support staff, assistant district attorneys, public defenders and other staffers.

Unlike the current court facilities, the new judicial center has wide, bright hallways and large signs telling people where they can find each department. The two-lane security checkpoint separates the giant lobby from the rest of the building. TVs on the wall share that day's court schedule. Most of the spacious courtrooms have a pair of meeting rooms attached, providing privacy and security for those involved in court cases. The prothonotary and clerk of courts offices, which have been located on different floors in the annex, are located on either side of one large space in the judicial center; Keller said this setup is more functional and supports potential future needs. 

The addition of the judicial center makes it possible for the county to bring its court-related operations onto one campus, instead of at locations scattered around the area. A few blocks away, the new administrative office brings a dozen county departments under one roof.  The county estimates that these consolidated operations will save about $400,000 a year for 20 years. 

Total project costs each taxpayer $29 a year

The Court Facility Improvement Project comes with a hefty price tag: $67.8 million. 

To pay for it, the county got a $55 million loan to be repaid over 20 years with a 3.14% interest rate. County commissioners approved a tax increase of 1.5 mills, which equates to about $29 a year for the average taxpayer. The increase began in 2019. 

The county has stayed on budget and on time, according to Keller. The project shut down for about a month when the COVID-19 pandemic started, but work was already a bit of schedule. 

Except for some minor change orders, the only significant adjustment was to the floorplans for the renovated courthouse annex. According to Keller, plans that the county initially budgeted at $4 million to $6 million came back roughly double that price. 

"But with the contingencies we had built in, we're still going to be on budget," the commissioner said. 

Fun fact: 'Ben Franklin' will stand in the lobby

A statue of Benjamin Franklin, the namesake of Franklin County, that stood atop the Old Courthouse for more than a century will go on display in the lobby of the judicial center. 

The statue, carved out of pine and covered in gold leaf, was created in 1865 and placed atop the courthouse, which had been rebuilt after Confederate torches destroyed it and many other buildings in Chambersburg. It stood there for 99 years before it was taken down temporarily for repairs, then was removed for good in 1991 ahead of a planned restoration. 

A team of craftsmen spent about 500 hours restoring the weather-worn and pigeon-battered statue. It was placed inside a custom protective case and displayed in the lobby of the Old Courthouse for 10 years. Since 2004, "Ben Franklin" has looked out on Route 30 and the Courthouse Plaza from a second-floor window of the Chambersburg Heritage Center. 

The Ben Franklin statue that currently stands atop the Old Courthouse is a fiberglass replica created in 1993. 

Amber South can be reached at asouth@publicopinionnews.com.