Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin is calling for a safety review of the Franklin County Municipal Courthouse and has announced a November council hearing will be held at the aging building as court staff face fire code violations, elevator breakdowns and security concerns.
The state of the 47-year-old building has made headlines in recent months - including when the judges closed the courthousetemporarily while part of the fire suppression system was offline - after Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther announced in July that the city could not afford to build a new courthouse. Ginther said that instead of spending $335 million to construct a new courthouse, a project in the works since 2018 that voters OK'd bond levies for twice, the city would
spend $260 million to renovate the existing courthouse.
Now, Hardin is attacking Ginther, his political rival in the 2027 mayoral race, for how his administration has handled the courthouse. In an announcement on Oct. 16, Hardin said court officials and staff feel misled and frustrated since the city could have been making meaningful improvements to the building for years with better fiscal planning and earlier action.
Hardin said he toured the Municipal Court last year and again two weeks ago with Administrative Judge Jessica D'Varga. He said he was stunned last year at the poor condition of the building and was shocked two weeks ago at its further decline.
“We owe a safe and accessible place to access justice to the half a million residents who come through its doors every year, and to the hundreds of city employees who work there," Hardin said. "With the Mayor’s cancelation of the courthouse project, we need answers about a realistic path forward. Columbus cannot allow a dangerous, deteriorating courthouse to reflect how we value our workers, our residents, or our city. We’re better than that.”
Ginther has previously said the decision to cancel construction and renovate the existing courthouse was necessary due to ballooning construction costs since the pandemic.
"It's going to be a phenomenal work environment that is safe and welcoming for folks that access it every day," Ginther told The Dispatch in an interview on Oct. 13. "By renovating that as opposed to building new, I'm able to invest in critical things like Barack Recreation Center, like a historic investment in fire apparatus, things that matter to neighborhoods."
Ginther's administration referred to the mayor's previous comment when asked about the hearing on Oct. 16.
Rolling renovations of the courthouse are expected to be completed in 2034, according to the Ginther administration.
In a video posted on Instagram, Hardin highlighted some of what he saw on his tour of the courthouse, including deteriorating tile in bathrooms, water damage and an outdated holding cell system.
"It is an unacceptable, unsafe working environment," Hardin said in the video.
Hardin said his hearing will ask how was the decision made to not move forward with a new Courthouse and what is the long-term plan.
The Nov. 9 hearing at 1 p.m. at the Municipal Courthouse is part of a series council will hold on Ginther's proposed capital budget for 2026 in November.
Ginther presented his proposed capital budget on Sept. 11 and has since pressured council to pass his capital budget as soon as possible at every opportunity.
Government and politics reporter Jordan Laird can be reached at jlaird@dispatch.com. Follow her on X, Instagram and Bluesky at @LairdWrites.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Hardin blasts Ginther's handling of aging courthouse, calls hearing
