Hempstead County Unveils New Courthouse

Hempstead Co. unveils new courthouse

The county purchased the former bank building for $1.5 million in 2017.

Story by Christy L. Smith Photos by Caitlin Brown AAC Communications Staff

Officials in Hempstead County hosted a grand opening for their new courthouse on May 19, 2022. It was almost exactly 82 years to the day that the first court proceedings were held in the previous courthouse on May 13, 1940, according to an article written by Mark Christ, formerly with the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, in the Spring 2017 issue of County Lines.

The vintage-1939 building was deemed unsafe several years ago, and the county began reviewing its options.

Farmers Bank & Trust officials were planning to downsize and

Opposite page, top: The county purchased the former bank building in 2017. In March 2020, Hempstead County voters approved a 1-cent sales tax to be collected for two years to fund the renovation of the building for use as a courthouse. That tax sunsets in July. Opposite page, bottom: This photo shows detail of the front of the building. Above, top: The two-story rotunda features stately columns and historical photographs. Above: Pictured are Hempstead County Treasurer Judy Lee Flowers, Circuit Clerk Gail Wolfenbarger, County Clerk Karen Smith, Assessor Kim Smith, Judge Jerry Crane, and Prosecuting Attorney Christi McQueen. Not pictured is Hempstead County Sheriff James Singleton. needed to sell their three-story building at 200 E. Third in downtown Hope, according to Hempstead County Treasurer Judy Lee Flowers.

In his remarks to those attending the grand opening ceremony, Hempstead County Judge Jerry Crane credited Bob Burns, Farmers Bank & Trust chairman of the board, and former Hempstead County Judge Haskell Morse with the “vision that the county would own this building someday.”

He said in a telephone interview, “Everybody’s excited it. It has new technology. And no mold and no asbestos — that’s the big thing.”

In addition, Crane said the new courthouse is simply easier to access for the public since it’s located downtown.

The Hempstead County Quorum Court voted on Feb. 23, 2017, to purchase the bank building to serve as a new home for county government operations.

“On Dec. 20, 2017, we wrote a check for $1.5 million and purchased” the bank building, Flowers said. The county entered “a lease agreement for them … to pay us rent until they could build their bank across the street and move.”

Flowers said it was 2019 before the bank moved into the downsized facility. But the building needed to be renovated for courthouse use — and the county did not have the money.

Officials began floating the idea of placing on the March 2020 ballot a temporary 1 percent sales tax to help fund renovations and to section off a portion of the old courthouse.

During a January 2020 public meeting, county officials said the need for containing and limiting access to the old courthouse was due to black mold, according to a March 8, 2020, article in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

“The most important reason why this tax measure needs approval is for the health, safety and welfare of our residents who still come out to conduct business

Courthouse

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Top: Modern light fixtures hang from the ceiling in the rotunda. Bottom: The courthouse includes two courtrooms, one for circuit court and another for district court, on the third floor. The prosecuting attorney’s offices are on the second floor, and all county officials’ offices are located on the first floor. The former bank building is located in downtown Hope, which Hempstead County Judge Jerry Crane called an “asset” because it is more accessible to the public than the historic courthouse located at 400 S. Washington St. at the old courthouse every day,” said Hempstead County Sheriff James Singleton, who was quoted in the article.

Hempstead County voters approved the sales tax, to be collected for only two years, on March 3, 2020. The breakdown was about 55 percent voting for the tax and 45 percent voting against. Collection of the tax began in July 2020 and will sunset at the end of June 2022.

“I was hoping for a wider margin, but the main thing is that we can move the courthouse out of this building and into a safer building,” Judge Crane told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in a March 8, 2020, interview.

The pandemic delayed some of the renovation work, but eventually it was completed. At the grand opening, Justice of the Peace Ed Darling said the county spent $6 million on renovations.

County offices began moving into the new courthouse in March of this year.

“This is a building of art. It’s equipped with the top equipment that could ever be put into a new courthouse as of this day. We were able to refurbish 95 percent of all furniture,” said Justice of the Peace Steve Atchley, who served as project manager for the move from the old courthouse to the former bank building.

According to Judge Crane, the first floor of the building is home to all county offices. The second floor houses the prosecuting attorney’s offices, and the third floor has two courtrooms as well as circuit and district court offices.

Only the Hempstead County Cooperative Extension Service office remains in the old courthouse. That is a temporary situation until the county can find them another place.

Judge Crane said the old courthouse is a historic site and, “We, at this time, have not made plans to do anything with it.” However, he said, there are plans to turn the grounds into a veterans’ memorial park.

Top: The renovated bank building features three floors. It was constructed in 2003, but then Farmers Bank downsized and built a new facility across the street. Bottom: Hempstead County retains all three of its historic courthouses. This Art Deco-style, four-story courthouse served the county for 83 years before it was deemed unsafe due to mold and asbestos.