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March 6, 2001
Judges' statement regarding Courthouse operations
Since the earthquake on Wednesday, February 28, King County Superior Court has been in operation at the RJC, Juvenile Court, the jail and other locations throughout King County. We ceased operations at the King County Courthouse.
We summon thousands of citizens each week to the King County Courthouse to serve as jurors as well as requiring witnesses, parties, attorneys and court personnel to be present at the Courthouse. We believed it was critical to obtain a second expert opinion concerning the structural integrity of the Courthouse building before a decision could be made on whether to reoccupy the building.
Yesterday, the engineer we retained met with the engineers of record for the County and inspected parts of the building which were most likely to have suffered any structural damage. At the conclusion of their inspection, we were assured by the engineers that the safety of the structure had not been compromised by the earthquake.
This is an old building that has not been seismically retrofitted since construction in 1913 and 1929. Both our engineer and the county engineers of record agree that the seismic retrofit project needs to be completed expeditiously in two years or less.
The Council has unequivocally agreed to appropriate money to fund the seismic retrofit project on a timely and expedited basis.
Based on these assurances and commitments, the King County Superior Court and District Court Judges are resuming all court operations in the King County Courthouse facility.
Contacts: Judge Ann Schindler, King County Superior Court (206) 296-9145; or King County Superior Court Presiding Judge Brian Gain, (206) 296-9170. For questions regarding District Court operations - Presiding Judge David Steiner (206) 296-3594.
Updated: March 6, 2001
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