Methow Valley New Okanogan County courtroom has state-of-the-art upgrades

Security, privacy measures improved

BY MARCY STAMPER

For the several weeks now, Okanogan County has been holding Superior Court trials in a new, spacious facility that provides much-needed security for witnesses and defendants and increased public-health protections by allowing jurors and others to spread out in the courtroom.

The county purchased the building in Okanogan in October 2021 from the U.S. Forest Service for $1.58 million. The cost was covered entirely by funds from the federal American Rescue Plan Act, which can be used for COVID-related expenses, according to Okanogan County Auditor Cari Hall.

While the county has long needed a larger courtroom and private office space and meeting rooms for attorneys, defendants and witnesses, the shortcomings of the old courtroom became critical during the pandemic, said Superior Court Administrator Dennis Rabidou, who gave a tour of the remodeled facility at the end of March.

The former Superior Court courtroom in the historic county courthouse seats about 50 people and has a compact jury box, which made distancing to protect people’s health impossible, Rabidou said.

For part of the pandemic, the county made do with a temporary arrangement at the Agriplex, where they set up widely spaced chairs during questioning of jury panels and had ample spacing for judges, court staff and trial participants. The arrangement at the Agriplex allowed the county to safely conduct trials