Community Corner
Pause Button Hit on Courthouse Project in Land O' Lakes
In light of financial and needs questions, Pasco County Commissioners have tabled a discussion on the matter.
Pasco County officials have hit the pause button on a proposal to build a $28 million criminal courthouse in Land O’ Lakes on jail grounds.
County Commissioners earlier this month agreed to hold off on the selection of a company to design and build the structure, according to The Laker newspaper. Instead, they reportedly want to have a “master facilities plan” put together to determine precise needs as well as a further examination of construction, maintenance and operating costs.
J. Thomas McGrady, the chief judge of Florida’s Sixth Judicial Circuit, went before the dais to support efforts to forge ahead on the plan, The Laker reported.
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“(It) will allow for increased efficiency in our criminal cases,” McGrady said in a previous Land O' Lakes Patch story. “(It will put) all of our criminal judges in one location.”
Under the plan, the Sixth Judicial Circuit of Florida would move all criminal courts and judges to Land O’ Lakes. The New Port Richey and Dade City courthouses would continue to house civil and family court operations.
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