By WMBD-TV
PEKIN – After months of talk, the Tazewell County Board made it official — the county is getting a new justice center annex.
The board voted 12-5 to spend $44 million on the annex which will go across the street from the current Tazewell County Courthouse. While the price tag is steep, thanks to the county’s savings account, and some COVID-19 relief dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act, there is no additional cost to the taxpayers.
The new four-story building will house new courtrooms for circuit, traffic and juvenile cases. It’ll also beef up security with an underground tunnel connecting the courtrooms to the county jail. This will keep prisoners away from jurors, judges, courthouse staff and the public.
Tazewell County Administrator Mike Deluhrey said the upgrades were much needed.
“We received some federal funds, and with that, we’ve been able to use those reimbursements from fiscal recovery funds to be able to help fund a large portion of this project. So between that, those reimbursements and also the building up our fund reserves, we’ll be able to pay cash for this project,” said Deluhrey.
They’re hoping to break ground next spring and the entire project is expected to take about two years to complete.
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