$5 million Duluth courthouse renovation includes new entry for prisoners
A plan to renovate the old St. Louis County Courthouse in Duluth will cost $5 million, with more than half of that going to build a new entry that will allow prisoners to be driven directly from the jail into the courthouse.
Also planned for the 100-year-old building are holding cells and upgrades to allow use of the service elevator to move prisoners to upper-floor courtrooms, says the Duluth News Tribune.
The new entry is important, officials say, because it eliminates the need to deliver inmates outdoors.
"We are probably the only courthouse in the state that still has outdoor inmate transfers,’’ said Dave Phillips, St. Louis County undersheriff. “We’ve had a couple [unsuccessful] escape attempts. And by getting our vehicle enclosed and the prisoner enclosed, it’s safer for our staff and for the prisoners.’’
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