Shelby County Justice Center

Shelbyville, Kentucky

With cramped space and outdated HVAC and electrical systems, multiple locations for services, and a lack of built-in security, the court system needed a new facility that consolidated the court system into one location for efficiency of operations, to improve services to the public, to improve safety for the court system and public, and to provide for future growth. This four-story, 60,000 square foot facility is that solution. All Circuit Clerk office space and public access counters including drivers’ license and the related Kentucky State Police driver testing functions are located on the first floor. At the second floor are two District courtrooms, one in a center bench configuration and one as a corner bench configuration. At the third floor there are two courtrooms, one for Family Court and one for Circuit Court. Both of these are center-bench configurations. Each courtroom is provided with related support spaces including attorney client conference rooms, witness waiting rooms, jury deliberation, a judge’s conference room, and storage. A flexible-use Hearing Room is located at the second floor. A grand jury suite is located at the third floor. Secure office suites for the Administrative Office of the Courts support services, including Court Designated Workers, Pretrial Services, and Drug Court have also been provided. Prisoners are managed in and out of the Facility through a secure vehicle garage. They are initially held in a first floor central holding area and then transported using a secure elevator for prisoners only, to holding areas between courtrooms at each floor. This Facility is unique to most court facilities in Kentucky in that all judges’ chambers and related administrative support spaces are located on the top floor away from the courtroom floors. This organization, known as the ‘collegial setting’, provides additional security and access control to the chambers, reduces staff isolation within a building