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ELKINS -- Representatives from the West Virginia Supreme Court will be paying Randolph County a visit in the near future, Randolph County Commission President David Kesling has announced.
During the most recent commission meeting, Kesling provided information about the upcoming visit, during which officials will inspect some of the county's facilities.
"We will be getting a new circuit judge for the county starting in 2025," Kesling said. "The county has to provide the new judge with an office space and a courtroom. So what I suggested to (the state Supreme Court) was that since the county is already looking at restoring the old jail and moving the county commission's offices to that building, that the new judge could take over the old prosecuting attorney's office."
The prosecuting attorney's office is currently located on the second floor of the James F. Cain Courthouse Annex, a floor above where the County Commission's offices and meeting room are situated.
The prosecuting attorney's office will soon be moving to the former Smith & Jory law office building across the street from the courthouse. That building was purchased by the commission last year and is currently being restored.
Just last month, the commission announced plans to restore the former Randolph County Jail, located behind the county courthouse on High Street, and renovate it to become a facility for the county commission and court security.
"Representatives with the Supreme Court are going to be coming down in a couple weeks to look at what I proposed," Kesling said. "And if they accept that as a viable option for the new judge, they take over this room (the RCC meeting room) and we will not be allowed to use it anymore. Because they will be getting it set up and secured for a new courtroom.
"So we would have to find a new meeting room, which is possible and doable in the old jail. We will just have to tweak something else to make it work."
Last spring, House Bill 3332 created new judicial circuits for the state and assigned the number of judges each circuit would have. Under the new law, Randolph is one of the counties in the state that will have a second judge.
"I asked, since the Legislature said we were going to get a second, additional judge, was there any funding for us to do these projects," Kesling said. "And I was told no, the Legislature does not provide any funding and that it will be the county commissioners' responsibility to do that."
Kesling said the commission has looked at other buildings near the county courthouse, but everything they have checked on has carried a large price.
"They know that the county is landlocked, and I'm not going to pay a million dollars for a building just to tear it down and rebuild it," Kesling said. "We own that property (the former county jail) so we will restore that property and make it what we need."
Kesling said the layout plans for the facility changes have been sent to the state Supreme Court, and officials are currently reviewing what he submitted.
"We provided them a blueprint so they can see how it looks on paper," Kesling said. "After they look it over, they will come to Elkins and inspect it first-hand."