Temporary courthouse relocation postponed

The planned temporary relocation of the Howard County Circuit Court from its historic Ellicott City headquarters to a Columbia office building has been indefinitely postponed.

The postponement of the relocation, which will accommodate a major renovation of the Ellicott City courthouse, is largely due to unnamed security concerns, court officials said, but also because of technological factors at the county-owned AscendOne building on Stanford Boulevard.

Court administrator Suzanne James declined to reveal what the specific security concerns were. But the decision was made last week that corrections could not be made in time to allow the court to move by the planned Sept. 6 relocation date, James said.

Compounding things was the recent strike by Verizon workers; the company is installing phone and data connections at the Columbia facility.

"We were working with the administrative office of the courts to try to get that done in spite of the strike," James said. "With Verizon having gone back to work, I'm assuming there's lots of work backed up for them. We hope they'll be able to get to us."

No new date has been set for the relocation.

Built about 170 years ago, the courthouse had last undergone major renovations in 1986, according to The Baltimore Sun.

In the meantime, some issues will remain, James said.

"There are continual roof leaks. With this rainy season, that's really been evident," she said. "However, the bottom line is when you're doing business like we are at the court, security has to be the number one concern."