Two bills before the Legislature aim to help improve the state's county courthouses, dealing with everything from the ability to issue bonds to handling emergency situations.
Stemming from the devastating fire which destroyed the Morgan County Courthouse, House Bill 4188 would determine when to issue an emergency grant. The bill, introduced Jan. 19, was passed by the House Finance Committee Feb. 9.
Melissa Garretson Smith, executive director of the West Virginia Courthouse Facilities Improvement Authority, said the bill would define what constituted an emergency.
"It might be an emergency to them but not serious enough to receive funding from the agency," she said. "As of right now, we say that our board may grant funds on an emergency basis and that it is at the discretion of policy."
The difference would be how fast courthouses would receive the money. Smith said counties still would be required to fill out grant applications and they would not have to compete against each other in dire emergency situations.
"As of right now, the insurer determines that natural or otherwise damages would have to damage 50 percent or more of the structure," she said. "If the insurance provider stated that 50 percent or more loss, then we would consider granting them emergency funds."
The House bill allows the authority it consider these projects in emergency situations, but if the authority did not have the money to perform the needed tasks, it would not be forced to consider it.
"Hopefully, if it were a situation like Morgan County, we would be able to help them if they had an immediate need," she said.
Another bill, which passed the Senate Judiciary Committee Feb. 9, will allow the authority to issue bonds without changing how much the fees are. This bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Finance.
"The way the code is written now, we take in private donations and take in grants but we are not able to bond any of that funding," she said. "We want to be able to issue bonds because that money could turn into something more substantial."
The authority is faced with a tight budget of $2 million a year to spread around the state, Smith said in a former interview. Smith said this money barely makes a dent in maintenance issues.
Smith also mentioned a needs assessment that was conducted 10 years ago, where the authority estimated more than $300 million in repairs and modifications.
"Within those 10 years, we have granted out $16 million," she said. "To make a larger impact, we would like to be able to have bonding authority. That way we can be able to make some better, more long lasting improvements to courthouses."
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