:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tronc/JAUKNSEVIZDB3DVF7JPL67Y26E.jpg "After two evictions the State’s Attorney’s Office may soon find a forever home")
After 25 years of planning, the first construction phase of the highly anticipated new office for the Carroll County State’s Attorney’s Office began last week.
On Aug. 16, crews began demolishing county-owned buildings at 207 and 209 Greenwood Ave., in Westminster, as well as an old billboard at the property as part of a $58,600 contract between the county and HTI Contractors, of Finksburg.
Demolition is the first step in preparing the site for construction of a $14 million, 39,874-square-foot office building that will be the new home for the State’s Attorney’s Office. Construction is slated to start in early 2024, with occupancy projected for summer 2025.
The State’s Attorney’s Office needs a new space because it has been “evicted” not once but twice in the past 25 years. The office temporarily moved in 1998 into the Courthouse Annex at 55 N. Court St., which was built in 1956 when it had to leave the Winchester Building on North Court Street to allow for renovations and subsequent occupancy by the Carroll County Board of Education.
No renovations have been done on the State’s Attorney’s Office since it moved into the 10,000-square-foot first floor and 750-square-foot basement. Prosecutors, victim advocates, case managers, investigators and administrative staff, currently work in the Courthouse Annex
In 1956, when the Courthouse Annex was built, Elvis Presley had his first hit with “Heartbreak Hotel” and the blockbuster movie “The Ten Commandments” premiered in theaters. In 1998, when the State’s Attorney’s Office moved in, the iPhone didn’t exist and social media had only just begun.
Elvis is long dead, and today we may wish that social media did not exist. The folks at the State’s Attorney’s Office may review high-tech evidence, like body-worn camera footage and DNA results when they prosecute cases in the 21st century, but they work for the taxpayers packed into a decidedly decrepit mid-20th-century building.
According to Special Counsel Michael Stewart, “as far back as 2007, there was a feasibility study done by the Carroll County Department of General Services for a criminal justice complex consisting of a new detention center, a criminal justice building which would have included both the Sheriff’s and State’s Attorney’s Offices along with a parking garage located on the property bounded by Ralph Street, Greenwood Avenue, and Manchester Avenue. A future minimum-security facility and retail shops and offices were also envisioned with an estimated price tag of around $39 million.”
Actually, the Carroll County government campus on Greenwood Avenue was first discussed as a vision for future governance by the Environmental Affairs Advisory Board in the 1990s, when I was its chair and Jim Slater was the Environmental Services Overview Bureau chief and Natalie Schein was the office administrator.
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Once constructed, the State’s Attorney’s Office Building will join the soon-to-be-built Carroll County Sheriff’s Office in the Carroll County Greenwood Office Complex. Today, in addition to the circa-1970s Carroll County Office Building, there is the Courthouse Annex, and the subsequent addition to the building for the Circuit Court, the historic Courthouse the District Court building, the original jail from the early 1800s, the Detention Center and the Carroll County Public Schools Office building.
The second time the State’s Attorney’s Office was evicted was in 2014.
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Moving forward, part of the third floor of the new state-of-the-art structure, budgeted for $17 million, will house the growing Evidence Review Unit of the State’s Attorney’s Office.
“Modern policing and prosecution increasingly revolve around video footage captured by police body-worn and in-car cameras, commercial video surveillance systems and home security doorbell systems like Ring,” said Carroll County State’s Attorney Haven Shoemaker. “This unit is driving everything we do right now, from initial case reviews to prosecution. We rely on this team and the need is only going to increase.”
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Shoemaker gave credit to the commissioners, particularly District 2 Commissioner Kenny Kiler, who made it a point to have the County Bureau of Building Construction brief the board on the progress of the project in open session on Aug. 10, 2023.
“As a former commissioner, I know it’s important to exercise oversight when spending taxpayers’ hard-earned money on a project,” Shoemaker said. “Time is money when it comes to construction projects, so ensuring that they aren’t held up by red tape is essential to keeping within cost, and I hope the commissioners continue to ask for updates.”
Shoemaker is optimistic that the new facility will enable the State’s Attorney’s Office to face the challenges of prosecuting crime in this century and into the next, whatever the future may hold.
Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster. His Time Flies column appears every Sunday. Email him at kevindayhoff@gmail.com.
