Today's Front Page |
eJCPress |
Mobile |
Facebook |
Twitter |
Coupons |
Packing Up: Washington Co. court clerk's office prepares for move
By Becky CampbellPress Staff Writer
bcampbell@johnsoncitypress.comWashington County courtrooms in Jonesborough were quiet Tuesday but the court clerk’s office was full of activity, with everyone packing files for the upcoming move to the new justice center.
Printer-friendly version
Email ArticleDozens of boxes were already packed full of case files and stacked in a row head-high.
“We’re boxing up, getting ready for our move. They’re going to be taking file cabinets down so they can move them. We’re having to get them emptied before next week so they can move them,” said Karen Guinn, Circuit Court clerk, Tuesday as her deputy clerks busily packed up files.
All the while, phones were ringing and people were walking in to pay fines or ask for assistance.
“We’re still having to function, hold court, get our dockets ready. It’s a job, but my girls are real troopers,” she said.
“For the next three weeks we will be inconvenienced but we’ll live with it,” she said.
Guinn said her office was supplied with 160 boxes but shared 30 with the District Attorney General’s Office, so employees there could also begin the task of packing.
By late afternoon Tuesday, the clerk’s office had about 75 boxes filled with court files, leaving little room to walk through the office.
But there’s plenty more files to get off the shelves before workers can dismantle the filing system to get it installed into the new quarters on Jackson Boulevard.
“We are going to be closed the week of Oct. 19. We will be available for emergency situations. We don’t want to take payments because our computer system will be down,” Guinn said.
Guinn is consolidating two offices in this move, with 30 employees involved.
She said the packing process has also started at the Downtown Centre in Sessions Court.
Courthouse services that are moving to the George Jaynes Justice Center will be closed Oct. 19-23 for the move. Sessions Court will resume at the justice center Oct. 26.