PRINCETON, WV (WOAY) – The Mercer County Commission is in the process of relocating the Sheriff’s Office out of the County Courthouse.
The move is being made to give the sheriff’s department more room for holding cells and will allow the courthouse to use their space more efficiently.
The top floor of the courthouse was originally built for holding cells but is now used for storage while inmates are held at other locations off-sight. However, the top floor of the building is not designed to hold a vast amount of storage.
So for safety reasons, the commission has decided to relocate the sheriff’s office out of the basement and instead use that newfound space for the storage, while the top floor is used for other, more appropriate means.
County Commissioner Greg Puckett says the move to a new location will solve a lot of issues with the courthouse.
“We’re gonna put a couple holding cells in there which allow for people coming in just for a small amount of time before they’re sent to the regional jail. And then at that point, it will increase the amount of parking that’s available around the courthouse, which has always been a problem,” Puckett said.
The sheriff’s office is being moved just down the street from the courthouse into the old American Electric Power building, and the move is planned to be done as soon as possible.
