QuickTake:

Lane County commissioners want the public and workers to have more space for courthouse and law enforcement services. The county is moving forward with plans to purchase a downtown building that will provide another 51,000 square feet.

Lane County commissioners unanimously agreed to purchase a downtown building at 99 E. Broadway from Eugene School District 4J for $2.95 million.

The commissioners’ action Tuesday, March 3, signals that the county sees long-term potential to use the approximately 51,000-square-foot building to provide more space for courthouse, district attorney and law enforcement operations.

The county has spent $115,476 on due diligence costs to determine if the property is adequate — but the building is not turnkey for courthouse operations. Initial estimates show that the county would need to pay about $17.5 million in direct construction costs to renovate the building to serve as a courthouse and law enforcement offices.

But courts and law enforcement officials said the move would help ease cramped crowded conditions for the public and workers throughout the county’s existing courthouse.

Lane County Sheriff Carl Wilkerson drew a comparison to the conference table in the meeting room where five commissioners and a handful of staff and other officers had gathered. 

“This table right here is bigger than the breakroom I have to serve 80 employees,” Wilkerson said.

Karrie McIntyre, presiding judge of Lane County Circuit Court, urged commissioners in a letter to consider the big picture — and how the court affects the elderly, the disabled, children, and people in homelessness.

“To that end, I must again raise the issue of the inadequate facilities of our current courthouse,” the letter said. “Our vital public safety partners — the Sheriff’s Office and District Attorney — are housed in the same building. Every time a community member enters the courthouse, they encounter barriers that undermine these essential services.”

Lane County Administrator Steve Mokrohisky said the funding for the property would come from two sources: First, the purchase is funded with $2 million in capital planning reserves set aside several years ago when the county contemplated construction of a new courthouse. The remaining $900,000 would come from video lottery reserves.

Mokrohisky said anyone who has served as a juror and been through the facilities “certainly understands the limitations and significant challenges” of the existing county building.

Government agencies — from the 4J school district to the county — have eyed the four-story building, a landmark in the city’s downtown since its construction in 1965. The 4J district bought the property in February 2024 for $2.9 million with plans to turn the property into a new district office.

But four months later, in June 2024, the school district decided to get rid of the building because it would need more than $10 million in remodeling costs.

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Ben Botkin covers politics and policy in Lane County. He has worked as a journalist since 2003, most recently at the Oregon Capital Chronicle, where he covered justice, health and human services and documented regional efforts to combat fentanyl addiction. Botkin has worked in statehouses in Idaho, Nevada, Oklahoma and, of course, Oregon. When he's not working, you'll find him road tripping across the West, hiking or surfing along the Oregon Coast.