SMITH COUNTY, Texas — For more than 20 years, Smith County has been in need of a new courthouse, Smith County Judge Nathaniel Moran said. The current courthouse, built in 1955 and intended to hold two courtrooms, now holds eight and is almost full and poses safety concerns.
“You have to go back 20 years to understand the community's need for a new courthouse and the repeated efforts to do something,” Moran said. “The efforts always get thwarted at the decision point, so the community has never actually been given a plan to decide on, and that's what we pledged to do.”
The need for a new courthouse has been studied since about 2000 when a new facility was recommended. Since then, studies also have been done in 2007 and again in 2020, all reaching the same conclusion.
Read more from CBS19's newspaper partner, the Tyler Morning Telegraph.
