The future site of most courthouse office is this building, the former Bronson High School. Many are calling it the Courthouse Annex.
By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter
The question of who should pay for security at the future Courthouse Annex erupted into a rare public verbal fight between Levy County Commissioners and two courthouse elected officials last week.
At issue was whether county commissioners or Tax Collector Linda Fugate and Property Appraiser Osborne Barker should pay two thirds of the $106,000 needed to keep two sheriff’s deputies on duty at the facility.
Many in county government have dubbed the former Bronson High School as the Courthouse Annex. It is being remodeled to house nearly all the courthouse offices. County Coordinator Wilbur Dean said officially the building hasn’t been renamed. Levy County Commission Chairman John Meeks suggested Levy County Government Building at one meeting.
Since many are calling it the Courthouse Annex, it will be given that name for the purposes of this story. The county commission can change the name whenever the board gets around to naming it, but the board has owned the school for a year and doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to officially rename it.
Sheriff Bobby McCallum offered to provide protection at the annex if enough funding was added to his budget, but legally speaking he said it wasn’t his duty to protect the Courthouse Annex because it is not the courthouse. McCallum offered to staff the facility with two deputies for a price of $106,000 annually.
Approving Sheriff’s Budget
Current plans are to convert the Levy County Courthouse into a court facility. The clerk’s office, sheriff’s office and courts will occupy the facility. The tax collector and property appraiser are being moved to the annex, like it or not. The county has set no firm deadline to move into the facility.
Commissioners ultimately decided at their June 18 meeting to fund McCallum’s $14.3 million for the 2018-19 year. This includes paying for the two sheriff’s deputies at the annex. It also means Fugate and Barker won’t have to pay for security. But the motions to approve the sheriff’s budget were muddled as Commissioner Mike Joyner tried to separate the $388,000 McCallum was requesting as extra pay for his employees from the additional $106,000 the sheriff wanted for annex deputies. Ultimately the entire budget was approved as a whole.
The fight over who would pay for the annex security started at the June 18 meeting when the commission’s budget officer, Jared Blanton, told commissioners that Barker and Fugate would pay two-thirds of the cost of security at the annex and commissioners would pay one third. That didn’t sit well with Fugate or Barker.
County Commission Chairman John Meeks listens to the debate about who should pay for security at the building many call the Courthouse Annex.
“It’s the Board’s Money”
Blanton said security at the annex was optional. The sheriff and commissioners technically speaking didn’t have to pay for security. But Barker and Fugate said the money for security would come from the commission budget regardless of who wrote the check. Fugate and Barker’s budgets are funded by the county commission. Why put the burden on them.
Fugate said she investigated the cost of hiring private security officers for her office. The price was around $200,000 annually. The security officers would come from Jacksonville. She said it would be less expensive for taxpayers if the county commission funded the annex deputies rather than forcing her to hire a private security company with county tax dollars. She also pointed out that she collects $40 million annually in fees at her office and she gives the money to the county commission to spend.
Barker said flat out that he hadn’t budgeted for security at the annex.
Commissioner Matt Brooks thought Fugate was talking about splitting annex security costs three ways.
“I didn’t say we were talking about potentially splitting it,” she responded. “I’m just saying its board money. If I take it out of my budget it’s just less money I’m going to turn back to you at the end of the year. If Oz (Barker) spends it out of his budget it’s money you give him anyway so how does it become someone else’s money,” Fugate said.
Private Security Costs Astronomical
Fugate said she thought the sheriff’s office was offering a good deal compared to the quote she received for private security costs. Fugate was opposed to having no security officers at all in the annex. Without having on-site security, she said it would mean waiting for a deputy on patrol to respond to her office if there was trouble. She said it could take 10 to 15 minutes for an officer to respond. She said her clerks have to deal with people angry about losing their driver’s license.
Meeks, at a previous meeting, indicated it was legal for Fugate and Barker’s employees to carry concealed firearms in the building as long as they have the state license. He also said it was legal for the public to carry a concealed firearm in the building if licensed. Fugate didn’t like the idea of her employees having to protect themselves.
“I just want to protect my employees,” Fugate said at the June 18 meeting. “We’ve had discussions. It’s legal for them to carry. I don’t want that. I want someone who is trained and licensed and understands how those situations need to go down if something happens.”
Commissioner Lilly Rooks asked how Fugate handles security at her branch offices in Chiefland and Williston, neither of which has on-site deputies protecting her employees. Fugate said both offices are located a short distance from city police stations. She said city police can respond quickly to both offices.
Fugate said there are times in the courthouse when deputies are in short supply and response time is slow. When only one deputy is working at the x-ray machine at the front of the courthouse, Fugate said the deputy can’t leave his post to come to her office in an emergency.
Told We Have to Leave
“I just feel like one, we weren’t asked to move (to the annex), we’re being told we have to leave the premises, so I really believe it’s the board’s money and the board’s responsibility,” Fugate said.
Interviewed later, Fugate said she may have been harsh in saying they were being forced to leave the courthouse.
“But they are trying to avoid building a new courthouse. In order to do that they are moving all constitutionals out of the courthouse other than the clerk; they want court functions to stay. They want the rest of us to move. They don’t want to build a new courthouse if they can move some of us out of here to make room for the court functions to stay open,” she said. “We’re expected to move. We want to move. We also want security as well. The quote I received for security guards was astronomical. I’ve talked to several people about what it could cost and the sheriff is coming in at a very reasonable rate.”
Fugate said it is true she her office on the second floor of the courthouse is out of space. She shares her personal office with the financial director due to the space shortage. There isn’t much privacy when talking on the phone or talking to anyone in her office.
Space Committee Discussions
She said the issue of security for the annex was brought up at courthouse space committee meetings. Meeks and all the constitutional officers including Fugate and Barker attended those meeting. The committee makes recommendations to the county commission on how to allocate space, but ultimately commissioners have authority to decide how space is allotted in the courthouse and who stays, who leaves or who is relocated.
“They’re (the commission) is making the best decisions based on what’s best for our entire county and I understand that,” Fugate said. “But with that being said, it was also brought up at (space committee) meetings that we want security. John even said in a public forum it’s not a courthouse, you can carry a weapon. I’m like, that (statement) should not be in a newspaper, but obviously it was. Every Tom, Dick and Harry (now) knows you can carry a concealed weapon in that facility.”
X-ray Machine or Not
The question of whether there should be an x-ray machine at the front entrance of the annex was asked at the June 18 county commission meeting. Meeks was asked if he was suggesting that it wasn’t legal to have an x-ray machine at the front entrance of the annex. He said he wasn’t making that suggestion but at the same time he said it is legal to carry a licensed concealed weapon in the facility.
“We have no right. It’s not a courthouse. We can’t say you can’t bring your concealed weapon in here,” Meeks said.
McCallum said there would be no x-ray machine at the front entrance of the annex. He said deputies will walk the hallways and visit the offices to make sure everything is secure.
The former Bronson High School, affectionately called the Courthouse Annex, is located directly behind the courthouse. The county commission offices, tax collector, property appraiser, veterans’ service office, building and zoning and county attorney’s office are moving to the building. One of the issues that could delay a move to the building is the lack of high speed internet in the aging building. ATT will have to rewire the building and thus far has given no indication of when it will add high speed internet wiring to the building. Fugate said she would like to move to the building before the start of the tax collection season in September. Moving all her computers and the sensitive software for state tax collections to the building in the middle of tax season isn’t an ideal situation.
A previous Levy County Commission bought a 20-acre piece of land about 20 years ago for the purpose of building a new judicial annex at the site. Most of the current board was not part of that decision. The current board decided a year ago to purchase the former Bronson High School as office space for courthouse officials and departments. The courthouse takes the place of a new judicial annex. The board has discussed selling the 20 acres.
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County Commission Chairman John Meeks listens to the debate about who should pay for security at the building many call the Courthouse Annex.
Board of County Commission Budget Meeting June 18, 2019; Posted June 27, 2019
