FILED ON: 3/6/2014

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2032

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Fourteen

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An Act to ensure access to the Hampden County courts in the city of Springfield.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. The division of capital asset management and maintenance in consultation with the chief justice of the trial court, the court administrator, the secretary of transportation, the secretary for administration and finance, and the senators and representatives from the city of Springfield shall issue a report on the Hampden County Court Complex located in the city of Springfield. The report shall be filed with the executive office for administration and finance, the chief justice of the trial court, the house and senate committees on ways and means, and the joint committee on bonding, capital expenditures, and state assets no later than December 31, 2014.  

SECTION 2. The report shall investigate and make recommendations on:

(a) the impact of the reconstruction of the interstate 91 viaduct on public safety and public access to the court facilities;

(b) the damage the facilities sustained as a result of the 2011 tornado and the possibility of damage from proposed demolition and construction in the area;

(c) the temporary relocation of the courts and personnel during any construction or relocation;

(d) the fair market value of the Hampden County Court Complex in light of recent development;

(e) the feasibility of constructing a state of the art courthouse, that includes wireless technology, data storage, and real time courtroom audio and visual technology located in the city of Springfield;

(f) the feasibility of constructing a new courthouse on several sites;

(g) the accessibility of any proposed relocation sites to low-income residents of Hampden County and the city of Springfield;

(h) the fiscal impacts of any relocation or construction plan on Hampden County and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts;

(i) the potential for construction and other full-time permanent jobs, which might benefit the citizens and communities of Hampden County;

(j) the feasibility of designing a courthouse with the most advanced and stringent environmental standards in the commonwealth;

(k) the integration of the courthouse to the community at large, as well as local colleges, universities, and law schools;

(l) the inadequacies of the current design for the Hamden County Court Complex;  

(m) the design and construction costs of courthouses built in the last ten years here in New England, as well as across the country;

(n) and, any other matters the division deems appropriate to make recommendations, including legislation necessary to execute plans contained in the report.

SECTION 3. Proceeds from any sale of part or all of the Hampden County Court Complex and adjacent facilities and properties shall not revert to the general fund but shall be segregated and reserved to fund the cost of replacement and construction of a new Hampden County Court Complex within the city limits of the city of Springfield.