After years of planning and negotiations, La Plata County announced Friday it made an agreement with the U.S. General Services Administration to move federal district court offices into the La Plata County Courthouse.

Both parties have accepted the deal in principle, Assistant County Manager Joanne Spina said Friday afternoon. But both sides still need to give final approval.

The lease agreement will be considered by the Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday.

The federal courts won’t actually set up shop until renovations are completed on the county courthouse. Those renovations, at an estimated $3 million – to be paid for by the county with possible grants – are expected to begin in early 2016 and conclude by the end of 2016.

Currently, the federal courts are in Bodo Industrial Park. Although the Durango facilities can handle some of the federal load, many cases end up in Denver.

Marcia Krieger, chief judge of the U.S. District Court of Colorado, said Friday afternoon she’s proud of the effort of several parties – among them the U.S. General Services Administration, the federal courts and La Plata County and its local judges – to put the deal together.

“This lease is a ground-breaking accomplishment,” Krieger said in a phone interview from Denver. “To have a permanent courtroom in a state facility, and to have a formal lease to share the facilities, is really remarkable.”

Under terms of the 10-year lease, General Services will rent 6,655 square feet on the first floor of the county courthouse on behalf of the federal courts. Including tenant improvements, operating rent and building security, the GSA’s annual payment will be $236,700.

That space will house a new federal courtroom, federal probation offices and federal marshal space, as well as chambers and related staff offices for the U.S. magistrate and a visiting judge.

Details of the intricate agreement take up about 100 pages in the county commissioners’ agenda meeting docket for Tuesday. The plan had been brewing since at least 2011.

“We’ve been working on those details of the lease agreement for quite some time,” Spina said.

County Commissioner Julie Westendorff said the deal has several upsides.

“Particularly with respect to federal criminal cases, a local federal court means that victims and witnesses don’t suffer the hardship of travel to Denver,” Westendorff said in a county news release. “Additionally, our board recognizes that a strong federal court presence in La Plata County can provide economic benefits to the community by attracting and growing businesses for whom convenient access to the federal court is beneficial.”

The state’s two Native American tribes – the Southern Utes and Ute Mountain Utes – both are in Southwest Colorado. Cases that occur on the reservations end up in federal court and often are adjudicated 350 miles away in Denver, where the state’s only federal courthouse is located. U.S. district judges visit Durango periodically, and part-time Magistrate David West handles some cases.

“I’m a Colorado native, so this to me is a perfect example of how government entities can work together to serve the population,” Chief Judge Krieger said. “This will provide much better service to everybody down there.”

To free up space for the federal court operations, the county is moving its administration, finance department, assessor’s office and board meeting room into the County Administration Building, which currently is under construction at 1101 East Second Ave. About $4 million in renovations, with $1.5 million of that coming from a state Department of Local Affairs energy impact grant, are being made at the old Vectra Bank location.

Once work is completed there – the renovation is expected to be done by June – then the aforementioned county departments can move from the courthouse, thus freeing space for the federal court facility.

The county and state courts will continue to operate at the County Courthouse during renovations there, Spina said.

As well as allowing the move of the federal court, renovations at the county courthouse will address needs of the state’s 6th Judicial District courts. The county is required by law to provide court space for the state, Spina said.

“We’ve got some real pent-up needs of the court,” Spina said. “They’ve had no space increases for at least a decade.”

The Vectra Bank building was acquired by the county in 2012. Renovations will expand total space from 12,658 square feet to about 16,000 square feet. An elevator is being added to help public access to the basement.

johnp@durangoherald.com