ST. CHARLES COUNTY — The top prosecutor here is warning that the county courthouse is too small to handle the growing county’s caseload while the judicial system is still dealing with a backlog created during the pandemic.
St. Charles County Prosecuting Attorney Joe McCulloch said the six-story courthouse built in the early 1990s at the corner of Jefferson and North Second Street is “bursting at the seams.”
That is part of the reason the St. Charles County Council is poised to vote on a deal that would see the county take ownership of St. Charles City Hall at 200 N. Main Street in exchange for the county assisting the city with extending Main Street north toward St. Charles’ new City Centre Complex and a road project in the Riverpointe development.
That deal, if approved, would see the county use the city hall building as offices for court staff.
The county’s judges, McCulloch said, are having to share courtrooms, and some courtrooms don’t have enough seating for juries, preventing them from holding jury trials and creating delays. More than 3,100 criminal cases have been filed in St. Charles County so far this year, according to court records. The county prosecutor files about 5,260 criminal cases annually based on the past five years, according to data provided by McCulloch’s office.
The court is handling more than 8,300 active cases working their way through the judicial system.
The county also averages 12 criminal jury trials per year, not including the jury trials in civil cases, officials said. Trials that are scheduled for a jury trial often end in a plea deal or settlement right before it is slated to begin.
There are 16 judges — 10 Associate Court and six Circuit Court judges — already working full time in the St. Charles County judiciary. The state’s Supreme Court has also appointed some retired judges to hear cases.
Many of the judges hear both civil cases involving property or business disputes and criminal cases that range from driving while intoxicated to assaults, theft and murder.
Some only hear specific types of cases, such as Associate Judge Gwendolyn Goeke, who largely handles adoption and juvenile criminal cases, and Associate Circuit Court Judge Dennis Chassaniol, who oversees the county’s drug treatment court program.
Ehlmann, the county executive and a former judge himself, and St. Charles County Director of Administration Joann Leykam have both said additional judges could be added to the circuit to help reduce caseloads. New judge positions, they said, are created through the Missouri Legislature, which is currently not in session.
Circuit Court Judge Chris McDonough, who serves as the circuit’s presiding judge, did not respond to interview requests.
The lack of space, McCulloch, the prosecutor said, is not helping the court system catch up on the the backlog of criminal cases that were delayed by the temporarily halt in 2020 of all in-person court proceedings during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the prosecutor’s office, there are more than 261 active cases — including 125 felony cases — that date back before the pandemic.
“I’m tired of using COVID-19 as an excuse, but we still have not recovered from COVID-19 when we were restricted on holding trials,” McCulloch said. “We just need to get through that backlog, and by having more space with more jury boxes in courtrooms will allow us to do that.”
His comments come following the release of the county’s annual capital improvement project list, which is compiled annually by St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann.
The project list includes potentially building a new pet adoption center near Lake Saint Louis, constructing new hangars at the St. Charles County Regional Airport at Smartt Field, making millions of dollars worth of repairs and improvements at the National Equestrian Center in Lake Saint Louis, replacing the marquee at the Family Arena, and maintenance-related projects at various county parks and other county-owned properties.
The County Council will authorize these projects during the budget approval process.
On the list of projects is the addition of two new courtrooms on the main floor of the courthouse, replacing the area where prospective jurors gather. Construction on the new courtrooms — which carry a $1.5 million price tag — is expected to start in 2027, according to county spokesperson Kevin Killeen.
Looking to the future
Once those courtrooms are built, Ehlmann said the county will “be out of room” in the courthouse.
“We will have to move people, move offices out of there and move courtrooms in, or we have to find another place for courtrooms,” Ehlmann said earlier this month.
On Friday, Ehlmann announced the county is considering a deal that would see it take over the soon-to-be vacated St. Charles City Hall, which is next door to the St. Charles County Courthouse on North Second Street. St. Charles will be moving from city hall to the former American Car Foundry site, which will be called the St. Charles City Centre Complex, once construction there is finished.
St. Charles Mayor Dan Borgmeyer said he anticipates the new city complex will be finished by the end of 2026.
The county wouldn’t pay anything for the former city hall.
Instead, Ehlmann said the county would help the city complete a couple of street projects, extending Main Street toward the City Centre Complex and in the Riverpointe development, a commercial and residential project that officials hope will transform the banks of the Missouri River into a bustling entertainment district.
The city hall building would give the county an additional 45,000-square-feet of office space once the county completes an $18 million renovation over the next several years, Ehlmann said.
Once renovations are complete, Ehlmann said the prosecutor, public defender, public administrator and facilities maintenance offices would relocate to the city hall building. Moving offices there, he said, would allow the county to add up to six additional courtrooms on the sixth floor of the courthouse.
“We’ve always had two options: either go south and take over the city hall building or go north and build there,” Ehlmann said.
The county purchased the property to the north — the building and half-acre lot at 400 North Second Street — in 2007, according to property records.
The building, which is currently vacant and just across the street from the courthouse, was built in 1890. It would likely have to be razed to make way for a new courthouse addition.
But on Friday, Ehlmann said he hopes the County Council will instead approve the city hall deal, which would include the parking garage. It, he said, would stay open to the public.
“We don’t need this next year or even the next three years,” Ehlmann said. “But we need it for the future of the county.”
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Ethan Colbert | Post-Dispatch
St. Charles County reporter
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