New courtroom goes high tech

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By MARK GUNDERMAN
mark.gunderman@lee.net
Thursday, August 21, 2008 12:10 PM CDT

A judge is unquestionably the one in charge of a courtroom in session. Now Judge Roderick Cameron, the senior jurist in Chippewa County, is more in charge than ever.

From his seat at his new bench, he has the power to cut off the microphone of any attorney talking too much. He can manipulate images on two high definition video screens, which are integrated into his touch-screen computer.

“The high tech stuff is a lot better,” Cameron commented last Friday, one weekend away from a permanent move from the Branch I courtroom where he presided for 25 years to the new state-of-the-art courtroom in what was the county board room on the second floor of the courthouse at 711 N. Bridge St., Chippewa Falls.

The creation of a third branch of circuit court necessitated the construction of a new courtroom. Fortunately, the county was prepared for that decades ago when the oldest part of the courthouse was  built.

The county board room was set up to be quickly and easily converted into a court. However, according to County Administrator Bill Reynolds, once a certain amount of work was planned, the whole room had to be brought up to code.

“It’s all ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)  compliant. We don’t have to retrofit (existing) courtrooms, but if we rebuild something it has to be compliant.“

That means it is set up for a judge, clerk witness, and jurors to access their elevated areas by wheelchair when needed.

The jury box will be the county’s only one large enough for 14 jurors, big enough to handle two alternates and a normal 12-member jury.

The court reporter’s station is moveable.

“Different court reporters have different desires for where they can hear better,” Reynolds said.

Those video screens are mounted, rather than the floor models used in other courtrooms. Also, there are microphone jacks around the room, allowing for different configurations during presentations.

The back rooms are typical — offices for support staff, a jury room with bathroom, and a judge’s office, which is actually smaller than Cameron’s former one.

“It will work fine,” Cameron said. “The county did not have an unlimited budget, but what budget they have they did well on.”

That budget was $355,000, according to County Auditor George McDowell, but that also covers conversion of a third floor room into a new county board room.

Cameron had his choice. He could have stayed where he was, but as senior judge he had first dibs on the new digs. His staff urged him to make the move, he said earlier this year.

New Judge Steve Cray takes over Cameron’s old courtroom, which is now Branch III. He presided on Monday, while Cameron heard cases in the new Branch I.