Clark County Courthouse

Clark County moves past controversy to begin construction of $4 million courthouse

Herald-Whig Staff Writer

KAHOKA, Mo. -- All that remains of Clark County's historic courthouse is a massive hole in the ground off Kahoka's Court Street and a picturesque cupola sitting in a neighbor's yard.

However, the chairman of the committee to replace the courthouse struck a positive note as he asked blessings for the new courthouse's construction.

"As we see this building rise from this hole, may we feel that we have done the right thing," Shawn McAfee said in his invocation before the Clark County Commission broke ground Tuesday on the new county courthouse.

A few minutes later, county commissioners and state Rep. Craig Redmon took ceremonial shovels in hand and turned the dirt on what Presiding Commissioner Ron Brewer called "a new page in Clark County's history."

The new $4 million courthouse is the fruit of a half-cent sales tax Clark County voters approved in April 2010, two years after the county commission received a $57,500 emergency grant from Missouri's Historic Preservation Revolving Fund to stabilize the crumbling 1870 courthouse, which was on the National Register of Historic Places.

The county commission demolished the old courthouse over the winter. That action prompted Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster to sue the commission in January, alleging that by demolishing the courthouse, commissioners weren't living up to the terms of the grant.

Brewer said the state and the commission settled out of court. According to court records, that $20,000 settlement was awarded in April and, to date, has been partially paid.

The lawsuit coincided with feelings of ill will on the part of locals who were opposed to the courthouse's demolition. McAfee admitted that initially, he was one of them.

"As a preservationist, early on, I struggled with this decision," he said, "but I began to look at it with my grandchildren in mind."

He noted that the historic courthouse was obsolete in terms of technological compatibility and handicapped accessibility, among other modern considerations.

With the courthouse demolished, the commission has sold some of its components at auction, including its distinctive silver cupola, which a Kahoka resident bought. It was sitting on the lawn of a house about 100 yards from the construction site as officials spoke warmly of the new courthouse project at Tuesday's groundbreaking.

CLARK COUNTY COURTHOUSE GROUNDBREAKING | Keokuk ...

A GROUNDBREAKING WAS HELD TUESDAY IN KAHOKA FOR THE NEW

CLARK COUNTY COURTHOUSE . THE CLARK COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

RECENTLY APPROVED THE BID OF THREE POINT THREE MILLION DOLLARS

TO WHISTON CONSTRUCTION OF CANTON FOR CONSTRUCTION OF THE

COURTHOUSE WHICH IS LESS THAN THE FOUR MILLION DOLLARS FUNDED

FROM A HALF CENT SALES TAX CLARK COUNTY VOTERS APPROVED IN

APRIL OF 2010. THE WHISTON BID WAS THE LOWEST OF THE SIX BIDS FOR

THE NEW COURTHOUSE. THE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS RECEIVED A 57

THOUSAND DOLLAR GRANT IN 2008 FROM THE MISSOURI HISTORIC

PRESERVATION REVOLVING FUND TO STABLIZE THE FORMER COURT

HOUSE THAT WAS BUILT IN KAHOKA IN 1871 AND WAS TORN DOWN THIS

PAST SPRING AND EARLY SUMMER. MISSOURI ATTORNEY GENERAL CHRIS

KOSTER SUED THE CLARK COUNTY COMMISSION ALLEDGING THAT BY

DEMOLISHING THE COURTHOUSE THE COMMISSIONERS WERN’T LIVING

UP TO THE TERMS OF THE GRANT. THE COUNTY SETTLED OUT OF COURT

AND AGREED TO PAY BACK 20 THOUSAND DOLLARS AND SO FAR IT HAS

BEEN PARTIALLY PAID. CLARK COUNTY COMMISSIONERS RON BREWER,

JERRY NEYENS AND ROGER SEDORE AND STATE REPRESENATIVE CRAIG

REDMON TOOK THE CEREMONIAL SCOOP OF DIRT AT THE CONSTRUCTION

SITE. THE CLARK COUNTY COMMISSION HELD AN AUCTION OF ITEMS

FROM THE OLD COURTHOUSE IN JUNE INCLUDING ITS SILVER CUPOLA

WHICH WAS SOLD TO A KAHOKA RESIDENT WHICH WILL BE RESTORED.

THE CUPOLA IS SITTING ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE CLARK COUNTY

LAW ENFORCEMENT CENTER.

THE FORMER COURTHOUSE WAS OBSOLETE IN TECHNOLOGY AND

HANDICAPPED ACCESSIBILITY. THE NEW COURTHOUSE WILL HOLD EVERY

COUNTY OFFICE IN ONE CONVIENENT LOCATION. WITH THE OLD

COURTHOUSE SEVERAL OFFICES WERE LOCATED ACROSS THE STREET IN

THE HILLER BUILDING. NOW OFFICES ARE LOCATED IN A TRAILER BEHIND

THE LAW ENFORCEMENT CENTER, IN THE HILLER BUILDING AND IN A

BUILDING ON EAST MAIN TWO BLOCKS EAST OF THE FOUR WAY STOP.

WHISTON CONSTRUCTION OWNER MIKE WHISTON SAID THAT

CONSTRUCTION WILL BEGIN WITHIN THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS AND

WILL TAKE UP TO 480 DAYS TO COMPLETE MEANING THE COURTHOUSE

SHOULD BE COMPLETED IN EARLY 2013.

I'm at Clark County Courthouse (200 Lewis St., Las Vegas)

Well, it's official. K Cutie is registered at the Clark County Courthouse!

Clark County

Clark County was created in 1873 by an act of territorial legislature.

Historic structures report, Lewis and Clark County Courthouse and jail

The Central law journal

This bond being issued and pursuant to orders of the county court of Clark county, as authorized by an act of legislature of the state of Missouri, ...

Some wills of Clark County, Indiana, being copies of original wills extant in the Clark County Courthouse 1805-1875

Asking more of our institutions: The promises and limits of juvenile restorative justice in Clark County, WA.

CHAPTER ONE THE PROMISES AND LIMITS OF RESTORATIVE JUSTICE IN CLARK COUNTY Beginning in late 1999, the Clark County Juvenile Court (CCJC) in Washington ...