Williamson County commissioners unanimously approved a $75.82 million purchase of 253 acres of land in Georgetown on March 24, intended for the future Justice Complex, according to a news release.
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Because Georgetown is the county seat, the Justice Complex must be located within the city’s limits or in its extraterritorial jurisdiction.
The land purchase includes four pieces of property in southwest Georgetown, including a 134-acre portion at 1200 CR 110, and 119 acres south of Sam Houston Avenue and east of Maple Street, the release states.
There are also several existing county buildings on SE Inner Loop, providing for more efficient government operations, Precinct 3 Commissioner Valerie Covey said at the March 24 meeting.
“[That’s] why there’s so many acres there, so it can become a campus,” Covey said. “Not just for the jail and justice center, but perhaps other locations the county owns that have other county buildings on it, perhaps one day they can move here.”
Some context
Kitchell, the project manager for the county’s Justice Complex project, confirmed in a December presentation the county will need to construct a new facility due to unsuitable conditions at the current location.
The current justice center is over capacity for office space and cannot accommodate the recently added district court, according to county documents.
The county jail and sheriff’s office needs to be updated to modern standards, as well as to support future capacity increase, the documents state.
Kitchell helped identify potential project sites during the first and second phases of planning. Now that there is a confirmed site, the county hopes to open the new Justice Center complex by 2030, according to a tentative project schedule.
What’s next
The county will hold a public information session about the Justice Complex project April 21 from 5-7 p.m. at 3189 SE Inner Loop in Georgetown.
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