EMILY TREADWAY
GEORGETOWN — A tour of local facilities running “out of space” is helping contractors plan for the Williamson County Justice Complex with an expected operational date in 2030.
The complex, with a cost estimate of $500 million to $700 million, will be built in stages, county commissioners heard at their meeting Tuesday.
Phase one includes an assessment of the justicesystem population and the workload forecast for the county’s courts, said project manager Cameron Glass of Kitchell/ Construction, Engineering & Management Inc.
“You’re out of space,” Glass added.
He presented a phase one update and review, plus steps for phase two.
Land has not yet been purchased to build the complex. The potential land site also falls under the planning stages of Kitchell/CEM.
“Phase one has been focused on some objectives to provide clarity around the county’s longterm planning needs. It included basically understanding what your current pressures are, projecting your future demands and evaluating a long list of potential (build) sites as well,” Glass said.
No final site recommendations have been made, but Glass noted Kitchell/ CEM is continuing to prepare data to help the county move forward with planning efforts.
“In phase one, we toured the jail, the courts and the law enforcement center to get an understanding of what the operational struggles are but also from a space needs standpoint as well,” Glass said.
Based off experience, Kitchell/CEM developed high-level space benchmarking on square footage per bed type for the jail and square footage per courtroom needs for the county courtrooms.
After presenting his report, commissioners approved Kitchell/CEM to begin phase two, which will not be ready until early spring 2026.
Commissioners will meet at 9:30 a.m. Dec. 30 at 710 S. Main St. Sessions can also be viewed online at wilcotx.gov/331/ Commissioners- Court.
