Mississippi County established its dual courthouse system nearly 100 years ago, when it took the tax collector three days to travel the county by horseback. Courthouses were built in Osceola and in Blytheville to make access to government services easier for county residents.
Now, people can travel the length of the county in less than an hour on Interstate 55 or Arkansas 18, and the quaint, yet archaic, idea of having two county seats is seen as more of a financial burden than a novelty.
Because of increasing costs in maintaining the two century-old facilities, officials are discussing building a new courthouse and combining the operations. Preliminary plans call for construction of a 55,000-square foot, three-story courthouse for about $15.8 million, Mississippi County Judge Randy Carney said.
"It's no longer feasible to have two courthouses," he said. "The business part is a no-brainer.
'We need a showplace in our county, and it ought to be the courthouse."
Officials first looked at consolidating the courthouses last year, when they wondered if the boiler system that heats the courthouse in Osceola would make it through the winter. Replacing the system would cost $60,000, Carney said.
The roof on the courthouse in Blytheville leaks, and it would cost $300,000 to replace, Carney said.
Both buildings are in disrepair. Plaster tiles in the Blytheville courthouse's courtroom fell recently during a trial, nearly striking attorneys, Carney said. Walls are cracking, and plumbing fixtures need replacing.
Because of their ages, the courthouses' utility costs rise each year, too, he said.
"It's always something," Carney added.
Osceola was initially chosen as the county seat, and in 1912, a 16,600-square-foot courthouse was built. Seven years later, Blytheville became the second county seat, and an 18,400-square-foot courthouse was erected.
Popular lore has it that the dual county seat system was created to ensure people could travel to a courthouse and back home by horse within a day's time. Swamps in Mississippi County hindered travel early in the 20th century.
Mississippi County is one of 10 Arkansas counties with two seats. Others are Arkansas, Carroll, Clay, Craighead, Franklin, Logan, Prairie, Sebastian and Yell counties.
There are only 33 counties in 11 states with the dual courthouse system. Ten counties in neighboring Mississippi also have twin seats.
"Counties are all strapped for money," said Chris Villines, executive director of the Arkansas Association of Counties. "It's hard to maintain one courthouse. Mississippi County is maintaining two.
"There are two sides of the fence, politically," he said. "The town may be losing a part of its identity. But that's a difficult call if you have to pay for it."
Officials in Craighead County tore down the 101-year-old courthouse in Lake City in 2000 because maintenance costs were too expensive.
Villines said other counties with dual courthouses have not recently discussed consolidating services to save money.
Mississippi County officials met with a Little Rock architectural firm that presented several ideas for building a new courthouse. Justice of the Peace Michael White, who serves as the Quorum Court's finance director, said the county can build a 40,000-square-foot courthouse for $10 million to $15 million.
Quorum Court members first looked at building the new courthouse in a centralized location between Blytheville and Osceola and chose Burdette as a potential site.
But the realization that county voters would have to approve changing the county seat made officials reassess the idea.
Now, tentative plans call for building a new courthouse on the southern edge of Blytheville near Interstate 55.
"Everybody in Blytheville would vote to keep it in Blytheville," White said. "Everybody in Osceola would vote to keep it in Osceola. We didn't feel we'd get the vote to move it out of the population center of the county."
Blytheville is the county's largest city with 15,210 people. Osceola has 7,409 residents. The U.S. Census Bureau's 2014 estimate of the county's population is 44,235.
Arkansas Code 14-14-303 requires the collection of signatures from 15 percent of registered voters in the previous gubernatorial election to change or remove a county seat through an election.
White said that to help fund the project, a sales tax increase would likely have to go before county voters.
"If we knew just fixing the roof was all we needed, it wouldn't sound so bad," White said. "But it's always going to be something else. The perpetual fixing and patching will cost the county too much."
Opposition to the plan has surfaced. A group established the Facebook page "Keep Osceola's Courthouse Open" and posts news articles and discussions about the issue. As of Friday, there were 830 people who joined the group.
"There is a lot of emotion behind this," White said. "We understand that. This isn't going to happen overnight. But we have to look to the future. If we don't do something, next year it'll be a year older, and we'll be falling further behind."
State Desk on 05/26/2015