Opinion
Make it work
TBO.com
Published: January 30, 2013
Pasco County commissioners have approved a plan to build the county's third judicial complex, north of Land O' Lakes, to go with the court complexes in Dade City and the New Port Richey area. Under the plan, the $28 million court building would be constructed on land in front of the Land O' Lakes Detention Center, the jail complex off U.S. 41 south of State Road 52. Some people thought the county's court space woes were handled when the renovated and expanded West Pasco Judicial Center open its doors. Alas, that wasn't the case. With court officials complaining about a continuing lack of space and security concerns, commissioners opted to go with the new court complex.Published: January 30, 2013
Not everyone, however, was happy — most notably Pasco Clerk of the Court and Comptroller Paula O'Neill and Sheriff Chris Nocco.
O'Neill, whose office has been grappling with money woes since the recession, is concerned about having to staff a third court-support operation to go with the ones in West and East Pasco. Nocco is concerned the new court building, too, will become overcrowded, derailing the plan to hold all criminal court cases there. This, Nocco says, would force a return of criminal trials to the Dade City and New Port Richey court complexes.
O'Neill and Nocco may have valid concerns. Having all criminal cases handled in one place next to the county jail, however, is an idea whose time has come. Let's just hope those cases can be kept in one place, or there could be a major told-you-so moment.