The verdict is in and county government has got to move! Calvert County Circuit Court Administrative Judge Marjorie L. Clagett delivered a “state of the court” message to the county commissioners Tuesday, May 13, outlining the ever-expanding needs of the local judicial system.

Currently, the county commissioners have their offices and conduct their weekly meetings on the second floor of the Calvert County Courthouse.  A longtime plan to expand the County Services Plaza on Main Street in Prince Frederick has sat on the back-burner for several years due to the sour economy. Once that facility is expanded the county government offices still located in the courthouse would be relocated.

“Our courthouse is straining,” said Clagett. “We need space now.”

The circuit court handles serious criminal and civil cases, juvenile and family law cases—including divorce, custody and child support. Clagett noted a recent 16 percent increase in cases handled by the local circuit court. The judge also stated that her predecessor, Warren J. Krug, had urged the county commissioners back in 2003 to begin planning to move county government out of the courthouse. As Krug had predicted, Calvert has seen a spike in the number of arrests and cases to prosecute in the past decade.

 “Permit the courthouse to be a courthouse,” said Clagett, noting that Calvert is the only Southern Maryland jurisdiction with government activity still occurring in the courthouse.

This past October Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley [D] appointed Mark S. Chandlee as Calvert’s third circuit court judge. The additional judge has created a fiscal strain on county government. In addition to salaries, renovations to the courthouse are needed to accommodate the expanded judiciary.

According to a memo from Julie Paluda, county government’s capital projects analyst, a renovation plan submitted by the Department of General Services last fall was revised last month. The estimated cost of the previous plan was $492,932. The revisions lower the cost to $408,579. The biggest expenditure would be $265,878 for renovating a portion of the first floor currently occupied by the Department of Finance and Budget, converting it into a courtroom.

Following Clagett’s address, the commissioners conducted a public hearing on a proposed budget adjustment