JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Action News has confirmed the new courthouse will not open until next week.
"The old building is closed. The new courthouse is closed," said Court Administrator Joe Selma.
He says while it's inconvenient, they're trying to make it all work.
"We have judges on duty from felony to juvenile for emergency hearings," said Selma.
Judges, attorneys and administrators are working out of boxes and satellite offices. They admit, it's not easy.
"We have everything in place to assist the citizens of this community," said Selma.
The new courthouse has had one problem after another. It failed fire protection tests last week. That's why it was delayed opening Tuesday. Before that, it was a fight over new furniture with the chief judge threatening a delay. Over the last 12 years of this project, many called the courthouse a money pit.
It's now costing taxpayers $350 million.
While the city is trying to work through the problem, the court system is trying to keep going. We are expected to learn an exact date for when the building will open on Thursday.
In the meantime, there is a lot more information on where specific court cases are being handled.
All emergency filings and emergency court business will be handled at the Courthouse Annex at 220 East Bay Street. Duty Judges for felony, family, civil/probate, juvenile and county court will be available to handle the filings. In addition, domestic violence walk-ins will also be handled at the Annex.
The pre-trial detention facility at 501 East Adams Street will continue to handle first appearance hearings for J-1, Domestic Violence Injunction hearings in J-2, and Child Support Enforcement hearings in J-3.
If you have a court hearing at the courthouse branch at 3490 Beach Blvd, those hearings will be held as scheduled. Traffic court operations will continue as normal at the Courthouse Branch on Beach Blvd. Payments for felony and misdemeanor cases can also be made at 3790 Beach Blvd.
We have reached out to city leaders Tuesday for the latest updates, but our calls weren't returned. City leaders do tell us Turner Construction will face financial consequences because the courthouse did not open on time. We're still waiting to hear how much they'll have to pay. Our calls to Turner for a comment were not returned.
