LePage signs Valentino’s bill for York County court upgrades into law

AUGUSTA — A bill by Sen. Linda Valentino, D-Saco, to construct a modern, consolidated courthouse in York County has been signed into law by Gov. Paul LePage.

“This is a great day for the people of York County, who have been made to wait, sometimes for years, for justice to be served,” said Sen. Valentino. “Most of the problems with our courts are a direct result of the aging nature of our courthouse, which simply wasn’t designed with the 21st century needs of York County in mind. This law will make our courts more efficient and safer too.”

The bill, LD 1528, “An Act to Modernize and Consolidate Court Facilities,” provides roughly $65 million in funding for a new courthouse in York County and create a “York County Courthouse Site Selection Commission,” which will deliberate on where the new courthouse should be located.  The commission will include a bipartisan group of local lawmakers, county officials, judicial officials, law enforcement, local attorneys and designees of the governor.

The York County Courthouse in Alfred.

The York County Courthouse in Alfred is outdated and ill-equipped to deal with its current caseload. Cases are often delayed for more than a year because of a lack of suitable trial space.

The Courthouse was originally constructed in 1806, when the local communities were small and rural.  Today, York County the second-most populous county in the state. Its caseload is nearly that of Cumberland County’s, the state’s most-populous, but York’s judicial facilities fall woefully behind Cumberland’s. WMTW recently toured the Courthouse, reporting that the building had “outlived its use.”

“Cramped space is an inconvenience, but exposed pipes, exposed wires, several bathrooms that are virtually impossible for a handicapped person to access, those are all problems. Orange-clad prisoners frequently share the hallways with everyone else,” reported WMTW journalist Paul Merrill.

The bill also provides funding for courthouse modernization in Waldo and Oxford Counties. Funding will be made possible through a Government Facilities Bond worth up to $95.6 million.

The “York County Courthouse, which was rebuilt after a fire in 1934, is no longer capable of expansion or updating and is truly unworkable,” said Maine Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Leigh Saufley during her annual State of the Judiciary address this year. “LD 1528 will provide authorization for dignified, efficient, and accessible court facilities in those counties … and it will result in substantially improved public service in all three counties.”

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