Bonneville Courthouse expands as county grows
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IDAHO FALLS — A space that the Idaho Falls Police Department previously occupied will be repurposed and used for courthouse operations.
The police department used to be in the Bonneville County Law Enforcement Building at 605 North Capital Avenue, but earlier this year, the department relocated.
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Visitors who come to the building on Capital Avenue to access the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office on the first floor or the Bonneville County Courthouse on the second floor will notice, when walking through the doors through security, that it’s under heavy construction.
“We are going to have a new large courtroom on that level as well as an information desk and space for the court clerks to be available to the public on the main floor. Some judge’s chambers and some other county office space. We will also have a jury room,” said Trial Court Administrator Tammie Whyte with the 7th Judicial District.
The new courtroom will be ADA-compliant. She said when the new courtroom is operating, there will be 11 courtrooms.
It’s viewed as a necessary addition.
“We continue to see enhanced growth all along the I-15 corridor but especially in Bonneville County. As population grows, the need for court resources inevitably grows,” Whyte said. “The 7th Judicial District has requested to add a magistrate judge and a district judge to be chambered in Bonneville County.”
Bonneville County Clerk Penny Manning explained the law enforcement building is attached to the original courthouse and was an add-on. The add-on has gone through various cycles in the past, depending on the county’s needs. For example, the jail used to be located there.
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“It was a decision of the commissioners to convert that area of the law enforcement building for court functions,” Manning said. “With a growing county, we also have growing needs in the courts; we have to respond to both civilly and criminally.”
Bonneville County Commissioner Roger Christensen said the work is estimated to cost between $2 million and $2.2 million.
“It’s money that the county has saved in their justice fund, which can only be designated for projects associated with justice like law enforcement and court functions,” Manning added.
Christensen said reusing the space in the county building is efficient; otherwise, building a new courthouse would have cost much more.
“If you were to go out and find a place and build a whole new courthouse, you are probably talking in the $2 to $300 million,” he said.
As for when the renovations are supposed to be completed, it’s estimated in either January or February of next year.
“It means a lot to the courts to have sufficient court facilities to handle court hearings in a timely manner and to get access to justice in a timely manner,” Whyte said. “It’s just a great example of the collaboration and our appreciation of our county stakeholders in a county where we are seeing growth.”
