Most people think of governing in terms of ribbon cuttings, groundbreaking ceremonies, and big public announcements. Those moments matter, but they’re the easy part. The harder work, the unglamorous, often invisible work, rarely earns applause. Yet it’s the work that determines whether a community functions or falls behind.
Few issues illustrate this better than the long-overdue need to replace Thurston County’s aging courthouse.
The courthouse on Lakeridge Drive (often called the Hilltop Complex) was built in the 1970s for a population half the size of what we have today. It has exceeded its life expectancy by decades. It wasn’t designed for modern technology, modern caseloads, or the safety and security standards a justice system requires.
Inside that building, judges, victims, attorneys, jurors and inmates often share the same narrow hallways. That intermixing isn’t just inconvenient; it can compromise safety and even put trials at risk of mistrial. Add to that repeated HVAC failures, outdated wiring, an aging roof, safety deficiencies, and crowded, outdated courtrooms and you don’t have a courthouse. You have a liability.
For Thurston County, the “courthouse campus” is also effectively our County Hall. It houses the Board of County Commissioners, public hearings, planning departments, auditor’s office, licensing, permits, elections, the assessor’s office, the prosecutor and public defense. Essentially the front door of county government. When that building fails, the entire public service system suffers.
For more than a decade, Thurston County has struggled to replace or modernize this campus. A $250 million new courthouse proposal was developed in 2018 (a similar proposal today would exceed $400 million), but it relied on a tax increase the public wasn’t comfortable with. It was headed to an April 2020 ballot before COVID-19 shut everything down. In 2022, the county leased space and public service departments moved into The Atrium as a temporary measure. The board at the time had not yet accepted that the Lakeridge buildings were, practically speaking, beyond saving.
After years of false starts, the choice was simple: keep sinking money into deteriorating structures and expensive leases, or find a smarter, more affordable path forward.
This summer, we found that path. The county approved a $34.9 million agreement to purchase a seven-acre campus near Plum Street and 8th Avenue in downtown Olympia. The property includes four modern office buildings, secure parking, direct I-5 access, transit connectivity, and enough space for courts, justice partners, and core administrative services, all at a fraction of the cost of building new.
Instead of scattering services across temporary sites, we can now consolidate the justice system and county services under one roof (technically six roofs on the seven-acre campus), making public access simpler, safer and more efficient.
There’s another benefit many people don’t see: the old courthouse campus represents a once-in-a-generation redevelopment opportunity. Rather than spending $50 million patching up a building that can never meet our long-term needs, we can work with the City of Olympia to rezone the property for a higher, better use. That opens a large tract of land in a beautiful part of the city for community-driven redevelopment and allows the county to eventually sell the land and reinvest those dollars back into public needs, a much better use of funds than more duct tape and bailing twine for the old buildings.
Courthouses aren’t just administrative centers; they’re critical public safety infrastructure. A modern courthouse ensures safer jury operations, secure inmate transport, appropriate spaces for victims, ADA accessibility, and adequate space for prosecutors, public defenders, and pretrial services to meet rising caseloads.
Superior Court Presiding Judge John Skinder summed it up clearly: the new location is necessary to give jurors, litigants, community members, and staff a courthouse that is safe and accessible to everyone. District Court Executive Officer Frankie Peters echoed the sentiment, noting that the existing building simply cannot meet the community’s needs.
When the people who run the justice system say the courthouse no longer works, the county has a responsibility to act.
Part of that responsibility includes working with the state. As the capitol county, we are Washington state’s court as well as Thurston County’s. Any time the attorney general’s office litigates a major case, they rely on our facilities. That partnership matters, but it also comes with a cost that has been disproportionately shouldered by Thurston County taxpayers. This legislative session, we’ll be working closely with a broad coalition that includes the attorney general’s office, labor unions, our legislative delegations, and partner cities, to secure additional capital funding for courthouse design and renovation. Courtrooms are highly specialized facilities, and since the use is statewide, the cost burden should be shared statewide.
Most people don’t think about seismic safety, air filtration, drainage systems, secure corridors, cybersecurity, insurance, or ADA compliance. But when those systems fail, everyone notices. Fixing courthouses isn’t flashy, but justice is and justice needs a home.
When I became mayor of Tenino, one of my very first acts was re-roofing every public building. It was a simple, unexciting project, the kind that never makes the front page but it protected the community’s assets for decades. (To this day, every spring, I still call public works and remind them not to let moss build up on the roofs.)
When I became a county commissioner, I approached Thurston County’s long-standing facilities crisis the same way. We established a subcommittee to explore solutions, which I had the opportunity to chair. That committee ultimately recommended redirecting the $50 million bond originally slated for patching up the failing hilltop structures and instead pursuing the purchase of an existing campus, a long-term solution that avoided pouring millions into buildings already past their useful life. Further reinforcing our direction, during our first board retreat, capital facilities became a top priority.
Then, circumstances aligned. Under direction of the governor, the state vacated a large amount of leased office space, creating a rare moment of commercial real estate availability and at great prices. Because we moved quickly and decisively, we secured a seven-acre campus that will serve this county for at least the next 50 years with room to grow.
Leadership isn’t just about vision. It’s about stewardship, taking care of what we’ve inherited so the next generation doesn’t have to fix our neglect. Fixing a courthouse will never have the excitement of opening a new park or launching a festival. But it is one of the most important responsibilities a county has.
Because justice requires a home worthy of the people it serves.
This decision may not be remembered as glamorous, but it will be remembered as necessary and sometimes, necessary is the highest form of leadership.
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Wayne Fournier is a Thurston County commissioner, former Tenino mayor, firefighter and lifelong community advocate. His column appears in The Chronicle every two weeks.
