An architect's report that labels Baltimore's circuit courthouses "dysfunctional" and needing $293 million in construction work has once again put State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy and Mayor Martin O'Malley at opposite ends of the table.

Jessamy called conditions in the 102-year-old Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. Courthouse and Courthouse East "abhorrent," while O'Malley said he's "seen far worse conditions in other places."

The architect's report, released Friday, recommended that the Mitchell Courthouse be restored to accommodate civil cases only and that Courthouse East be converted to offices for the state's attorney and special court functions.

Each of the buildings - which house prosecutors' offices, courtrooms, judges' chambers, holding cells, records rooms, clerks' offices, jury rooms, sheriff's offices and administrative offices - has long been beset by rodents, peeling paint, worn carpeting and faulty elevators. Prisoners ride the same elevators as defendants, witnesses and judges.

The report was prepared by Richter Cornbrooks Gribble Inc. of Baltimore and Ricci Associates of New York. Maryland's Department of General Services and the Circuit Court for Baltimore City paid for the study with $375,000 in state funds.

Its findings have been supported by the court's top judge, the city's top prosecutor and courthouse employees, all of whom have complained of fire hazards and air-quality problems in the buildings.

"The Mitchell Courthouse is a wonderfully historically significant building that has a lot of problems that need to be addressed," Jessamy said. "For example, the air-handling system. I have an electric heater in my office and I'm sitting here shivering. Our space is ridiculous. We're professionals, and we need professional-looking space."

But the mayor, who has been critical of the city's criminal justice system since he took office in 1999, said the price tag proposed to fix the problems is just too high.

"It is going to be hard for the public to swallow that, until we fix the administration of justice, which has little to do with bricks and mortar," O'Malley said. "As we work to improve the administration of justice, we might be more receptive to spending $300 million on a new building."

Del. Howard P. Rawlings, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said courthouse conditions are "disgraceful." He said the money could be cobbled together using state and local funds, as well as debt service and possibly an increase in court fees.

"We need to make sure the courthouses in our jurisdictions are adequate," Rawlings said. "We don't need a Band-Aid on the problem."

O'Malley said the city's legal officers seem to be comparing themselves to people in private practice.

"Compared to [private Baltimore law firms] Piper & Marbury or Whiteford, Taylor & Preston, I can see how they work in less-than-ideal conditions," O'Malley said. "But the conditions are better than our schoolkids are trying to learn in. We have kids going to summer school in classes without air conditioning."

The consultants did not recommend a specific location for a new courthouse.