“Moving a court is complicated,” said the judge, who is seeking re-election to a fourth term in 2025. “We have to be open all the time. We can’t take two weeks off and move, and basically we’re going to take the last week in January and the first week in February, and even though we normally have two courtrooms going at the same time, we’re going to put everything in one courtroom.”
During those two weeks, Gattermeyer said they’ll set as few as cases as possible as they have some control of the dockets. However, he said there will be some cases, like new arrests and emergencies, they cannot control and must hear, “but we’ll try to keep those two weeks relatively light.”
The Hamilton Justice Center broke ground in April 2023, and the Hamilton Police Department began live operations on Dec. 10, working out of the South Eighth Street side of the $32 million, 64,000-square-food facility. At the end of next month, it will be the first time since One Renaissance Center was built a generation ago the police department and courts operated in the same building. The two agencies operated out of South Front Street.
Credit: Michael D. Pitman
Credit: Michael D. Pitman
Around 14,000 square feet of the building is for court operations, which includes two courtrooms and a lot more space, which Gattermeyer said they need “because we feel like we were right on top of each other.”
But the move will be “a chore” because of all the documents, files and technology that need to be in place so they’re ready to operate a courtroom for Butler County’s largest city.
“We have a big job ahead of us and we’re looking forward to being there,” he said. “The way they built it, the design is just really great. It will give us easier access to the people who are incarcerated that need to come into court.”
While they’ll still need to transport incarcerated persons from the Butler County Sheriff’s Office across Hanover Street, it’s still quicker access than the half-mile to One Renaissance Center.
But moving won’t end in January. The next move for Hamilton will be Fire Station 26 on Laurel Avenue in Lindenwald. It will relocate to a new $6.2 million station in February or March. City Manager Craig Bucheit said the city is preparing requests for proposals for the former police station at 331 S. Front St., and the Laurel Avenue fire station, 651 Laurel Ave.
He said they’re “actively evaluating options” for the soon-to-be-former court space once the department transitions out.
“We plan to evaluate the proposals we receive for these facilities before making any decisions about any of the available spaces created by all of these upcoming moves,” he said. “In formulating our plan, we’re considering all possibilities, including internal needs, potential relocation of city staff, and opportunities to partner with other government entities, nonprofits, or private businesses. It’s very possible we could reorganize staff and departments as part of repurposing these spaces.”
The Hamilton Justice Center has been a long-needed facility for a 63,000-resident city that is also Butler County’s capital city, and Gattermeyer said the public should visit, even if they don’t have a case because it “just looks so awesome” and “feels special to be down there.”
“(The city) seems like it’s just evolving into something really special,” said the native Hamiltonian. “So many good things are happening in Hamilton and you can’t deny it’s booming, and it’s just a great opportunity to have an awesome building for the police station and the courts, and I just think it’s part of what’s going on with the city. We’re doing really great right now.”
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