Court fees increase as justice buildings need $40 million in repairs

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Inside the dimly lit Hall of Justice, water falls from three stories up and puddles in a public waiting area.

Nearby, an escalator sits motionless, inoperable for months.

A sarcastic face drawn on a sign warning people to take the stairs is just one indication of how maintenance problems in the city’s justice buildings have become a running joke.

“It goes not only from environmental concerns, but the movement of individuals, access to courts,” Jefferson Circuit Court Clerk David Nicholson said.

Nicholson points to issues in the Hall of Justice, the neighboring Judicial Center, and the Old Jail Building as a $40 million problem.

Information given to the Louisville Metro Council reveals long-standing issues:

“Poor lighting to non-functioning escalators in the h