Conaway faults courthouses’ safety, upkeep

Calling conditions at Baltimore‘s two circuit courthouses “deplorable,” Clerk of Court Frank M. Conaway Sr. sent a letter to Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake asking for help making the long-sought fixes to the aging facilities.

Conditions at the Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. Courthouse and at Courthouse East directly across the street have been the subject of many complaints for least the last 14 years. The Mitchell, built in 1900, and Courthouse East, built in 1932, have suffered from pest and rodent infestations, plumbing, HVAC and air-quality problems, crowded conditions, unreliable elevators that the public shares with criminal defendants and other security issues.

“The employees are very, very unhappy and afraid for their health,” Conaway said. “I hear the screams from people when a rodent runs across their desk. It’s a bad situation, it really is.”

In his letter to the mayor, Conaway pointed to the lack of daily upkeep in the buildings.

“During normal business hours, there is only ONE cleaning person per building and very limited maintenance workers …,” Conaway wrote. “It’s a matter of public health and safety!”

Ryan O’Doherty, spokesman for Rawlings-Blake, said in a statement that the mayor and the Department of General Services would review Conaway’s letter and respond to him.

“Mayor Rawlings-Blake understands the long-standing issues related to the aging circuit court buildings,” O’Dougherty said in the statement. “The Mayor and the City Law Department helped fund and worked with the courts on a recent feasibility study for a new courthouse complex which would require significant state funding.”

The study, released in May 2011, estimated that a new facility would cost between $570 million to $600 million.

Conaway said the buildings need to be overhauled or for construction to begin on the planned replacement. He also touched on security issues in his letter, bringing up the 2005 shooting in an Atlanta courtroom that left three people dead.

Baltimore City Circuit Court Administrative Judge Marcella A. Holland said safety experts have been brought in and security has been beefed up with such things as courtroom cameras. She said while anyone who has worked in the courthouses knows they need to be repaired, the money for what needs to be done just does not exist. Plans to replace the courthouses also lack a funding mechanism, Holland added, although she said this year’s budget includes $1.5 million earmarked for additional development costs.

“I understand Mr. Conaway’s frustration and anyone who’s been here knows that these buildings will not work by themselves,” Holland said. “There is still a need for a new facility but we have about two year’s worth of work still to be done.”