A new city court and home for the Ward Five Marshall is becoming a reality as steps in the process to purchase a building and renovate it for those purposes continues.
Oakdale City Judge Luke Abrusley has been spearheading the project. He approached the Oakdale City Council on March 3, asking the city to allow him to purchase the Capital One building. He asked the council to allow him to bid up to $250,000 at that meeting. Then on March 18, at a special meeting, Abrusley asked and received the council’s permission to apply to the bond commission for the purchase funds. On April 7, he announced he secured the building for $156,000 and had the council readjust its ordinances to reflect the purchase price and application for bonds. This week, he requested a special meeting so the council could approve an ordinance to incur the debt. A public meeting also was held in compliance with regulations for acquiring the debt.
The new building has over 7,200 square feet for the purpose of housing the Oakdale City Court Ward Five and the Ward Five Marshal’s office. Marshal Mike “Freck” Slaney and his staff are now housed at the city’s police department since their previous location was destroyed by Hurricane Laura (August 27, 2021). Not only would it create a new space for the marshal’s office and give the police department back its space, it would make it easier for the marshal’s office to do job duties like securing the courthouse, etc.
Abrusley also has a long list of why the purchase of this building makes sense for the city and can also add to the community’s safety and growth.
First, the court system is quickly outgrowing the space it utilizes at city hall where it presently exists and shares its room with council meetings. On court days, parking becomes an issue for city hall customers, as well as courtroom participants.
There is no lobby, so all of these people are in the main room of city hall where some of waiting for trial while others are there to pay bills and/or do other city business. It becomes congested.
When juvenile matters are handled, which Judge Abrusley points out are closed to the public, he has no place to put courtroom participants in an area where they are not in the city hall population.
“It just isn’t good business,” he said.
His future plans for the new courthouse building include a smaller courtroom for juvenile proceedings and a place for juveniles to be out of the public’s eye.
The location of the building is next to the city’s police department. This would make it easier to transport prisoners to the courtroom for various stages in the judicial process.
This week, Abrusley said he secured $50,000 from state funding, committed toward the renovation, with assistance from state Representative Dewitt Carrier. He said that amount will allow him to hire an architect and begin renovations to create a courtroom. He said offices already exist in the building.
“The building is in good shape.”
His goal is to create a plan for renovations in phases that may occur over the next four years and utilize state funding as long as it is available to complete renovation in those proposed phases.
He’s excited that this project has been successful without the passage of millages.
“No millage has been passed,” Abrusley said.
With the passage of a revised statute, an additional $10 have been added to every ticket and earmarked for a building fund. That money will repay the bonds secured to purchase the building. He said last Thursday, the bond commission approved the issuance of the funds and earlier this week, he was waiting on Evangeline Bank purchase of the bonds. (At press time, he learned they would be closing this week.)
“The City of Oakdale purchased the building for the court,” he said. “It was a lot of work, and I received great cooperation from the mayor and council.” He explained the council called special meetings when necessary during the process and did everything necessary to make this project a reality. “This is going to be a big asset for the city, court and marshal.”
With the move, this also makes more room for city renovations. The city is presently working through USDA funding and that means city hall will be brought into compliance with ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act Standards) guidelines making everything handicapped accessible. The renovations would have taken one-third of the courtroom for those renovations.
“We’re already cramped inside,” he said of that present location so the court would have had to deal with less space in city hall.
Safety also exists at the top of Abrusley’s positive list for securing the new location. He said the new location will allow them to secure the courthouse on a better level. At city hall, they used a metal detector on court days. Now the entrance will be manned and provide safety for all employees and courtroom participants.
“It’s going to be much more professional and look more professional,” he said. “It also will have a lot more creditability (in terms of safety precautions).”
Abrusley said it will probably be six months to a year before the new building actually houses the courthouse and marshal’s office. He said he will be working on securing furniture and other items. He’s already inquired about surplus furniture through the state supreme court system. And as they move into the space, changes may need to be made to utilize the area to get the best use possible at the building. One never knows what the future holds, but Judge Abrusley is looking forward to the change because it’s going to be positive for everyone.
