RAYMONDVILLE — Court fees might help renovate the historic Willacy County courthouse.
Legislation has passed the state House and Senate that would earmark about $8,000 a year in civil case filing fees to help fund a renovation or repair project.
House Bill 2875 would allow the county to collect a $20 filing fee for every civil case filed in district court here.
The legislation also could collect the same filing fees from district courts, county court and justice of the peace courts, county consultant Sally Velasquez said yesterday.
But the amount of money other court filings would generate is unclear.
Officials estimate it would cost $8.5 million to fund the courthouse’s complete restoration of the courthouse closed in early 2015 after widespread mold forced employees out.
“The process to preserve and rebuild the courthouse will be lengthy but rewarding to showcase for many generations,” County Judge Aurelio Guerra said in a statement.
Now, the bill pushed by state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr. and state Rep. Ryan Guillen awaits Gov. Greg Abbott’s signature.
In 2016, the district clerk’s office filed 415 civil cases, deputy clerk Andy Rodriguez said.
At that rate, the county would collect about $8,300 a year in filing fees, calculations show.
But the county has other funds it could tap.
Last year, the Texas Historical Commission gave the county an “emergency” grant of up to $402,970 to try to stop the building’s decay.
But to use the grant money, the county would have to come up with a matching share of up to $402,970.
So the county is forming a nonprofit corporation called One County, One Community to seek private donations to raise the money.
The historical commission’s grant would be used to hire experts to determine how to stop the three-story building’s decay.
The problem starts in the basement.
For decades, heavy rains have raised the area’s shallow water table, flooding the basement, leaving stagnant water in the building.
For years, county officials have sought grant money to try to remove the mold from the Classical Revival courthouse completed in 1921.
The state health department found mold in the courthouse in 2008, recommending officials take steps to remove it.
In February 2015, county commissioners closed the courthouse, moving employees into a 9,000-square-foot administration building that cost $1.1 million to renovate.
TIMELINE
• 1921 – The Classical Revival courthouse, designed by San Antonio architect Henry T. Phelps, is completed.
• 2008 – Texas Department of Health finds mold in the building, recommending officials take steps to remove it.
• 2010 – County pays $55,000 to develop a preservation master plan it presents to the Texas Historical Commission as a prerequisite to a grant application aimed at funding the building’s renovation.
• 2015 – County commissioners close the courthouse, moving employees into the Administration Building after its $2.1-million renovation.
• 2017 – National Parks Service places courthouse on National Register of Historic Places
