County hires consultants to study courthouse options

Travis County hired consultants to study a possible public-private partnership to build a planned civil and family courthouse.

At its Jan. 3 meeting, the Travis County Commissioners Court voted 3–2 to contract with Ernst & Young LLP for consulting services at a cost of $425,000. Commissioners Karen Huber and Margaret Gomez opposed.

Ernst & Young will act as the county's advisory team for analyzing what is feasible when building the new courthouse, measuring more than 500,000 square feet in size, to be located at 308 Guadalupe St.

According to the Jan. 3 meeting's backup documents, the firm will analyze 21 request-for-information responses the county received in June and develop concepts and objectives for a public-private partnership, also called a P3.

The documents state that a committee of county officials chose Ernst & Young after evaluating 10 firms that responded to a request for services. Travis County Commissioners Court voted 3–2 to contract with Hawkins, Delafield & Wood LLP for legal services.