SCRANTON, Pa. — The Lackawanna County Courthouse no longer houses central court. It's been relocated to an old medical office in Scranton near the county prison.
It's part of a project several years in the making and one in which Judge Michael Barrasse played a big role.
"Much more efficient, quite frankly, courthouse. There was a huge number of people coming in and out of that first floor of the courthouse is a very unsafe environment," Judge Barrasse said.
Better security is one of the biggest benefits of the new place.
"Before when we had central court in the courthouse, you had victims, often domestic violence, sexual assault cases, right next to where the defendant might be, so this separates out all the parties."
The new criminal justice center is now attached to the county prison, so inmates will no longer need to be transported over to the courthouse for hearings.
"Essentially, all they have to do is call over to the prison, say, 'John Jones,' they walk them over. And there's no longer transport cost involved, nor a security breach," Barrasse explained.
Another big benefit for employees and anyone else coming in and out of the criminal justice center, they'll no longer have to worry about parking on the street downtown.
Most of the hearings right now are done virtually and will likely continue that way for a few more months.
"For us, really, it's a blessing in some ways. It's a very soft opening; only probably about a fourth of the cases are in person, so it really has been a good way to start," Barrasse added.
The relocation also frees up space inside the courthouse for court administrators and public defenders, who have often had to conduct interviews or speak with their clients in the courthouse hallways.