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Cumberland County supervisors have to answer a question this week. Will they move forward with Cumberland courthouse renovations, a $37 million change that both their own study and a local judge has determined is needed? Or are they willing to deal with the judge’s promise to “pursue alternative means to achieve this goal” and reject his request? 

That’s one of the issues coming before the board in this week’s meeting, which has already been postponed one time due to weather. Originally scheduled for Feb. 11, now it’ll take place on Tuesday, Feb. 18, starting at 6 p.m. 

The issue here surrounds an argument about if the courthouse does or doesn’t meet current needs. In the Spring of 2022, Virginia’s Department of General Services did a study of the Cumberland County Courthouse, saying it was inadequate. One year later, in the Fall of 2023, Cumberland officials decided to do their own study, signing a contract with HBA Architects. 

That came back with roughly the same statement. The report indicated that the current Cumberland Courthouse scored poorly on the assessment results. It stated that courtrooms are undersized, there’s a lack of adequate conference space, lack of an adequate security screening area, with undersized clerk’s offices, a pack of public space and a lack of a vehicle sallyport. At 14,225 gross square feet, the current building isn’t large enough to house immediate needs, the report stated, let alone prepare for the future. 

 

What are the options? 

In addition to addressing the Courthouse shortcomings, the assessment identified long term needs for the Courthouse and other judicial functions based upon space requirements, staffing, and caseloads. Now as part of their own study, HBA Architects gave the county five options. 

Option One is to expand and renovate the current courthouse to 32,000 gross square feet. This is the one with the $37 million price tag. Option Two would be to build a completely new 53,000 gross square foot courthouse on county owned property to the north of the current one. Options Three and Four involve building a new courthouse, 39,000 and 42,500 gross square feet respectively, on a site adjacent to the Sheriff’s Office, with the current courthouse being used for other needs. 

 

Judge argues expansion is needed 

Donald C. Blessing, Chief Judge of the Cumberland County Circuit Court, sent two letters to Cumberland Administrator Derek Stamey. The first was on Dec. 16, 2024 and the second was on Feb. 3 of this year. In both, he urged the board to move forward and spend the $37 million, otherwise he would be forced to look for alternative options, whatever those are. 

“Consideration of the courthouse addition has been ongoing for almost two years,” Blessing wrote. “The process has been deliberate, thoughtful and considerate of the public, county officials, law enforcement, court officials, lawyers, litigants and the judiciary.” 

The problem, Blessing wrote, is that the number of court cases keep increasing, at a time when every report states that the courthouse is worn out and needs to be replaced. 

“Case loads continue to increase,” Blessing wrote. “In the January Term, the Circuit Court (composed of Cumberland citizens) returned 112 sealed indictments, in addition to the regular ones.” 

All of those cases need to be heard, but they need space in which to do that. Not just that, Blessing argued, but it’s unsafe to continue holding all these cases in the current building. And that’s according to the county’s own study. 

“The County’s experts/consultants have determined the facilities to be inadequate and unsafe,” Blessing wrote. “The Courthouse fails to meet the Virginia Court and Facilities Guidelines. New guidelines may be adopted this spring. ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliance must be addressed as well.” 

Blessing said if the supervisors fail to make a decision or put it off, that would be considered a negative response. As such, Blessing wrote, he and the other judges would take action. 

“We will pursue alternative means to achieve this goal if necessary,” he wrote. 

 

Options on the table 

And so that’s what comes before the county supervisors this week. It’s worth pointing out that $37 million is an estimate and not the only costs involved. If the county moves forward, it would have to put out an RFP (Request for Proposals) for Architectural and Engineering services, to design the changes. 

“The design process could take between 10 and 14 months to complete at which time we will have a better understanding of costs and potential borrowing scenarios for the project,” Stamey wrote in the board of supervisors’ packet for this week’s meeting. “From there, the Board could authorize a renovation and expansion of the Courthouse which would take approximately 18 months to complete.” 

In the packet, Stamey said that the county administration advises supervisors consider authorizing staff to move forward. The board will have a chance to make their own decision in Tuesday’s meeting.