State court operations to move to Family Court building
As work on a new Sussex County Family Court building nears completion, the state plans to renovate the current structure to house court-related agencies and make small additions to the nearby Superior Court building.
The exterior and third-floor interior of the $115 million, 107,800-square-foot Family Court building at the northeast corner of East Market and Race streets are nearly complete, state courts spokesman Sean O’Sullivan said Sept. 24.
It should be ready for full occupancy and the parking garage will be completed late this year, O’Sullivan said.
Among the state offices that will move into the building are a law library, the Department of Justice, Office of Defense Services and Office of the Child Advocate. Most of those offices were located in space outside the Family Court building, including the Department of Justice, whose office was among the buildings leveled at the site of the new courthouse.
When the Family Court moves from its outdated and overcrowded 31,000-square-foot building at 22 The Circle, that structure will be renovated. The courthouse was built in the late 1980s and renovated in the late 1990s.
“The architectural programming for the project is underway, and the approved plan will serve as the basis for the renovation design,” wrote Jennifer Coverdale, director of facilities management, in a Jan. 24 email.
“Once complete, the updated facility will allow the state to consolidate staff from multiple departments currently working in various leased and state-owned spaces across Kent and Sussex counties, creating efficiencies and reducing the need for multiple scattered locations,” Coverdale wrote.
The building will undergo interior renovations to house state agencies, including the Justice of the Peace Court, Office of Defense Services, Office of State Court Collections Enforcement, Judicial Information Center and offices connected with Legislative Hall, she said.
There is no cost estimate or timeline available for the project, according to Coverdale.
Sussex County and the state reached an agreement in August 2024 for the county to purchase the East Pine Street building next to its administration building, which is now occupied by the Justice of the Peace Court and law library, for $2.15 million.
County officials at the time said they planned to move offices to the site, either after renovating the existing building or replacing it.
The relocated law library will be about the same size as the current library, but with many court services and documents now available online, it is used less frequently, O’Sullivan said.
This will allow the state to initiate a program to open the library more to the public, replicating a pilot program that has been operating in New Castle County in recent years, he said. It provides assistance for people who want to represent themselves in some types of court cases. There is no schedule for when the additional services will be added.
Meanwhile, a plan for a small expansion of the Sussex County Courthouse at 1 The Circle was approved Sept. 17 by the Georgetown Planning Commission.
Vincent J. Serritella, an architect with historic preservation experience who works for Baltimore-based Manns Woodward Studio, presented the details of the 3,742-square-foot addition.
“Everything is minimizing visibility from The Circle,” Serritella said.
The project includes an enclosed vehicle entrance for transferring detainees and additional space for judges, four more holding cells for people awaiting trial, and a larger and more secure entrance.
The commission approved the historic district site plan with the condition that two planned first-floor windows at the rear of the building be covered by bricks in a style similar to some of its other first-floor windows.
Brian Olszak, the town community development director, said Sept. 24 the only other approvals needed from the town for the Sussex County Courthouse project are the site plan and building permit.
Kevin Conlon came to the Cape Gazette with nearly 40 years of newspaper experience since graduating from St. Bonaventure University in New York with a bachelor's degree in mass communication. He reports on Sussex County government and other assignments as needed.
His career spans working as a reporter and editor at daily newspapers in upstate New York, including The Daily Gazette in Schenectady. He comes to the Cape Gazette from the Cortland Standard, where he was an editor for more than 25 years, and in recent years also contributed as a columnist and opinion page writer. He and his staff won regional and state writing awards.
Conlon was relocating to Lewes when he came across an advertisement for a reporter job at the Cape Gazette, and the decision to pursue it paid off. His new position gives him an opportunity to stay in a career that he loves, covering local news for an independently owned newspaper.
Conlon is the father of seven children and grandfather to two young boys. In his spare time, he trains for and competes in triathlons and other races. Now settling into the Cape Region, he is searching out hilly trails and roads with wide shoulders. He is a fan of St. Bonaventure sports, especially rugby and basketball, as well as following the Mets, Steelers and Celtics.
