Sedgwick County will remodel the 1st and 2nd floor of the Main Courthouse annex to make room for several departments.
Phase 1 of the nearly $1.37 million project will remodel the 1st floor, which will house the Sheriff’s Offender Registration Unit. That department is currently at the Harry Street Mall but their lease expires at the end of the year. They will temporarily move to the 2nd floor of the annex while the 1st floor is completed.
Phase 2 will remodel the 2nd floor and will cost the county nearly $1.6 million. It will house pretrial services, drug court, and Veteran's treatment court.
In all, the project will cost nearly $3 million and will be completed over the next two years. The county says bringing these programs to the main courthouse will allow better operational efficiency, will consolidate adult programs to the downtown and save money by not leasing space.
The current Main Courthouse remodel funded by ARPA dollars is nearing completion and will be finished by the end of 2024. That portion of the remodel expands the courts, Sheriff's judicial and the DA's area.
Also at Wednesday's meeting, the board approved an application for a federal DOJ grant. If awarded, the city of Wichita and the county would evenly split the roughly $386 thousand grant. The county's portion would fund technology upgrades to the Sheriff's office, the Regional Forensic Science Center, Corrections, Courthouse Police and the DA's office.