What’s happening?
The current county courthouse was built in 1938, and the last effort to create new courthouse space was in 1997, according to information provided by county and district court judges Claudia Laird, Keith Stewart, Kristin Bays and Vince Santini.
In 2022, Montgomery County commissioners authorized architecture and engineering firm PGAL to conduct a study regarding the construction of a new county courthouse.
During the presentation, Laird said there are 20 judges in the county but only 17 usable courtrooms within the courthouse, causing an immediate shortfall of space made worse by structural problems, such as:
- Faulty wiring and plumbing issues
- Deteriorating concrete on top floor
- Rodent infestations
- Asbestos remediation
In their words
"I want you to recognize we are out of space, we are out of time, we are out of options," Bays said. "We're coming to you with this proposal, and it's already years too late doing it. It's going to cost you even more if you wait."
"We talk about law enforcement, prosecution; that cannot take place if there's no place to hold court to get people to go to trial," Laird said. "There would be continued waste to maintain antiquated, dysfunctional, unsafe buildings that are not possible to properly secure. We will have a dysfunctional branch of government."
"Our district and county courts-at-law moved 31,800 cases [in 2024]. Fort Bend, with the same number of courts, moved roughly 24,000 ... these numbers are important because that's how busy the courthouse is," Stewart said.
Diving in deeper
In the PGAL study, which was completed in 2024, five options were proposed for a new courthouse facility, including options to house a smaller jail and inmate holding center as well as the Montgomery County Tax Office.
Option 1: $133.9 million
- Courthouse: 240,000 square feet
- Jail/holding center: 5,975 square feet
- Courthouse: 240,000 square feet
- Jail/holding center: 5,975 square feet
- Tax office: 45,000 square feet
- Courthouse: 240,000 square feet
- Jail/holding center: 5,975 square feet
- Tax office: 45,000 square feet
- Garage: 132,000 square feet (400-car capacity)
- Courthouse: 240,000 square feet
- Jail/holding center: 5,975 square feet
- Tax office: 45,000 square feet of flex space
- Courthouse only: 240,000 square feet
While the judges agreed there was not an available funding source for the project, they presented a number of options to help offset the cost, including transforming the current courthouse into a historical site and using court-collected fees that average $200,000 annually.
"I want to ... accept this presentation as at least a starting point of looking at what we need to do," said Precinct 2 Commissioner Charlie Riley, who placed the item on the court's agenda. "We can always add to this or move it or change whatever, but we need to come up with something that we all agree on."
The judges also said the county could look to a future bond issue or even certificates of obligations to cover the cost of constructing a new courthouse.
The takeaway
According to Bays, the current case levels in Montgomery County have created a need for two additional criminal courts to keep up with population growth.
"[Fort Bend, Denton counties] are averaging per judge 1,200-1,900 cases a year. We're averaging 2,300 cases per year, but it's not a sustainable model," Bays said. "The case filings are going up. The need is becoming greater. We can't ask you for a new court, because there is no place a good one."
However, County Judge Mark Keough said he would not support any funding mechanism which caused a tax rate increase, and he would be opposed to certificates of obligation due to it not going before voters before agreeing to incur debt. Keough said addressing the county's roads and jail needs are also high priorities.
"The state is not coming at us telling us we need to replace our courts. ... We have a priority issue with having inmates sleeping on the floor at the jail right now," Keough said. "So somehow in this configuration, and you've done fabulous work, you've got to figure all that into it."
