New Spartanburg County Courthouse opens this month. What you need to know about the move.
Spartanburg County's new $120 million courthouse will officially open later this month.
County spokeswoman Scottie Kay Blackwell said the move from the old courthouse on Magnolia Street begins Monday. Jan. 8. The new courthouse will open at 8:30 a.m. on Jan. 22.
Officials plan to demolish the old county courthouse once the move to the new courthouse is complete. Plans also include erecting a public plaza at the site of the old courthouse.
Money for the $120 million project comes from revenues from a 1-cent capital sales tax that county voters approved in November 2017.
The new courthouse is on North Daniel Morgan Avenue, bordered by St. John and Library Streets. The building has a parking garage and a secure parking area with 32 spaces for judges and officials. Parking also includes spaces to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
According to the county's website, the 340,000-square-foot courthouse will consolidate activities that were previously located in separate county and municipal facilities.
The six-story steel structure with a precast façade designed to resemble marble includes 17 courtrooms, one hearing room, a jury assembly room, jury deliberation rooms and shell spaces for future use.
The office of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is on the top floor, along with the Circuit Court, which is the court of general jurisdiction. Courts of limited jurisdiction include the Family Court, Probate Court, Magistrate Court, and Municipal Court.
The Municipal and Magistrate Courts are located lowest in the building, with the Family and Probate Courts occupying the middle floors.
Space also includes room for the various Clerk of Court functions, Sheriff Courthouse security and court holding, Solicitor, Public Defender, Juvenile Justice and Guardian ad Litem.
Clerk of Court Amy W. Cox said the old courthouse will be closed from Jan. 8 through Jan. 19.
However, staff will still be working, answering phones and emails, processing filings, and sending required notices, Cox said.
The only non-employees allowed into the building will be attorneys, litigants and witnesses on the small family court docket during the first four days of the move.
"There may be times when our phones and computers are in transition, which may cause delay in our responses," Cox said. "I ask that everyone be patient with us if this occurs."
There will be a drop box at the front entrance of the old courthouse from Jan. 8 to Jan. 19 for any paper filings for Circuit Court, Family Court, Probate Court, Magistrate Court and Master-In-Equity Court, Cox said. Filings by 5 p.m. will be clocked for that day.
● Email General Sessions filings to Tanya Camp at tlc@spartanburgcounty.org, or mail to Spartanburg County Clerk of Court, General Sessions Court Division, P.O. Box 3483, Spartanburg, SC 29304-3483
● Common Pleas filings not requiring a fee may be emailed to Maribel Martinez at mmartinez@spartanburgcounty.org. Filings with a fee may be placed in the drop box or mailed to Spartanburg County Clerk of Court, Common Pleas Division, P.O. Box 3483, Spartanburg, SC 29304-3483.
● Filings in Family Court that do not require a filing fee may be emailed to Bathsheba Browning at brooks@.org. Filings requiring a fee may be placed in the drop box or mailed to Spartanburg County Clerk of Court, Family Court Division, P.O. Box 3483, Spartanburg, SC 29304-3483.
● For those who need copies of records for General Sessions, Common Please or Family Court, contact Cheryl White at ctipton@sprtanburgcounty.org.
● Questions about a Family Court hearing should be directed to Melissa Triplet at mtriplet@spartanburgcounty.org.
● Questions about a Common Pleas Court hearing should be directed to mmartinez@spartanburgcounty.org.
● Questions about a General Sessions Court trial or plea hearing should be directed to Alaina Freeman at amfreeman@spartanburgcounty.org.
● Questions about a General Sessions Court motions hearing should go to Megan Shropshier at mshropshier@spartanburgcounty.org.
● Those who need information on paying court fines and fees should contact Robin Jeter at rjeter@spartanburgcounty.org.
Penny tax funds courthouse and new municipal complex
The new courthouse is one of several projects paid for by the penny sales tax from 2017.
Other projects include a new city-county government complex that will provide "one-stop customer service" for area residents with offices in the same building at City Hall on 145 W. Broad St.
As previously reported by the Herald-Journal, the project will cost $52.3 million and an estimated $600,000 to $700,000 in demolition and development of the current City Hall site.
City Hall is in the process of leaving its current site. The municipal court and Spartanburg city offices plan to move from Jan. 8 to Jan. 22. City staff and municipal court employees will be located at 187 W. Broad St. until the new city-county governmental complex is completed in 2025.
The city's police department has already moved to a new location at 206 N. Forest St. The facility was also paid for by the penny tax.
The city's fire department will move into its new headquarters at 450 Wofford St. at a date to be determined.
Bob Montgomery covered Spartanburg County politics and growth & development. Reach the Herald-Journal via email at news@shj.com.
This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: New Spartanburg County Courthouse set to open later this month
