La Plata County next week is expected to formalize its proposal to lease a portion of its courthouse on East Second Avenue to accommodate a federal courtroom and associated services.

The Board of County Commissioners is scheduled to vote on the proposal Tuesday during its regularly scheduled meeting, which will start at 10 a.m.

The proposal is to lease 12,000 square feet of office space to the Federal General Services Administration for 10 years with an option to renew.

The space on the first floor of the courthouse would be used for federal court hearings and affiliated functions, including U.S. Probation, U.S. Marshals and U.S. Attorneys offices.

The county has been working with the federal government for more than a year to expand federal court services in Durango.

A federal courtroom and other services are currently located in a federal building in Bodo Industrial Park.

The county would like the federal government to expand its services in Southwest Colorado to enhance access to justice and create economic vitality in downtown Durango, said Joanne Spina, assistant county manager.

“It’s a twofold benefit,” she said.

Southwest Colorado is home to the state’s only two Indian tribes – the Southern Utes and the Ute Mountain Utes. Many cases that occur on the reservations end up in federal court.

But many of those cases are adjudicated 350 miles away in Denver, where the state’s only federal courthouse is located. Legal professionals argue it is unfair to make people travel that far to participate in the justice system.

Federal court officials have pledged to assign a full-time magistrate to this area, at a minimum. It is possible the courts could expand or become a full-fledged courthouse in the future, Spina said.

“Ultimately, we hope that the project will demonstrate a caseload that justifies a larger federal court presence in the community,” according to county documents outlining the proposal.

The federal government has expressed interest in occupying the offices currently utilized by the county Assessor’s Office, the GIS offices, the county administration offices, the finance departments, the commissioners’ meeting room and the offices formerly occupied by the county clerk and recorder.

The county would relocate some or all of those offices to the Vectra Bank building and other properties it has acquired on East Second Avenue.

The cost of purchasing the bank property and moving offices will result in an almost break-even scenario for the county at the end of the federal government’s 10-year lease.

If commissioners approve the proposal, the next step will be for the federal courts to review the offer and decide whether to enter into an agreement.

shane@durangoherald.com