Proposed facility would be funded by 2015 bond referendum

The city of Lakeway hired architectural consultant Croslin Design Concepts on Oct. 20 to determine the feasibility and preliminary conceptual design of a new Justice Center at its existing site, 104 Cross Creek Drive, Lakeway. The study will also analyze the finances of building a center at a different location.

According to the $46,000 contract the study will evaluate the Police Department and municipal courts and the space each may require during the next two decades.

Lakeway's Justice Center was constructed in 1982 to house City Hall operations and was not designed to support a court and full-service police force, Lakeway Police Chief Todd Radford said.

"The biggest reason [for the study] is we are out of space," he said.

Four sergeants share an office, and the agency's community resource officer works in a converted garage area, he said. There are no rooms designated for conferences, training, evidence processing, central records, storage or a receptionist, he said. The property/evidence room is full, he said.

The current building also lacks a temporary holding cell and area for secured prisoner processing, forcing police officers to transport a prisoner to the Travis County Jail for booking or handcuff a prisoner, if uncooperative, to the facility's detention bench while being processed, Radford said.

Radford said he anticipates the department's staff needs will increase from its current 34 police officers to a projected 50 to 55 officers in the next five to seven years.

"There's been an increase in population growth and an increase in commercial development," Radford said. "Although we can assume there will be an increase in call volume as new developments come into the city, they are still good developments for the city of Lakeway and its residents."

From 2010 through 2014, the Justice Center incurred more than $177,500 in renovation costs, including remodeling its dispatch center, Radford said.

Presiding Judge Kevin R. Madison, Lakeway Municipal Court of Record 1, submitted a letter Oct. 13 to City Manager Steve Jones endorsing a new Justice Center.

Madison said the courtroom is overcrowded and may pose a fire hazard in the event of an emergency. The building lacks dedicated jury and conference rooms, and its courtroom, jury and witness boxes are not Americans With Disabilities Act–compliant, he said. Because of limited bathroom space, the judge and court staff must use the same facilities as courtroom defendants—a dangerous situation in the case of an angry defendant, he said.

Should the study determine a new facility is needed, funding for the project will come from a November 2015 bond proposal to be approved by residents, Jones said. The funds for the survey, which was approved Oct. 20 by City Council, will be taken out of Lakeway's general fund and reimbursed if the 2015 bond passes, he said.

A needs assessment survey for the Justice Center was conducted in 2009 and showed a new facility was needed, Jones said. However, progress on the project was tabled because of the area's economic recession, he said.