County employees have already started the move to the Mower County Jail and Justice Center. And while some expect the process to produce a few headaches, most think it’ll be worth the efforts.

“I think it’s going to be a huge undertaking, but yet the end result is going to be so beneficial that it’ll be worth the headache we’re going to have for a short period of time,” said Krissy Bartness, court operations supervisor.

The county’s courts and offices for court administration, the county attorney and Correctional Services are all going to be moving across the street this week to the new Mower County Jail and Justice Center. County employees were already boxing up their desks Friday to be prepared for the move after Monday night’s open house at the justice center.

A light week

According to Correctional Services Director Steve King, the move won’t be the tough part. The tough part will be maintaining operations during the move.

“The challenge comes with trying to keep the services open,” King said.

“We don’t have the luxury of shutting it down to move and opening when we’ve got it all squared away,” he added.

A light week is scheduled in courts this week, but work won’t be shut down for any of the offices scheduled to make the move.

Court adminstration will also be running, and Bartness said there will be some challenges before information technology employees can get the computers and phones up and running in the new building.

“We’ll do the best that we can given the situation that we’re in to provide as much service as we possibly can. We probably won’t be able to do things unless they’re emergency based.”

Some challenges will continue until the jail is open, because King said that some prisoners may have to be transferred to the correctional services offices.

“There’s going to be some things to work out that we’re probably not even aware of and won’t be until we get there,” King said.

King noted it will be helpful that many of the phone numbers will remain the same.

A welcome change

Bartness said the move will be beneficial to the new building because the court services offices are currently split up, and communication can be an issue.

Likewise, King is excited for his new space, especially because he’ll be able to move three of his employees out of a former storage closet.

“We’re going to move some people out of the storage room and put them in professional offices,” King said.

The current Correctional Services office is built for seven people and they’re currently housing 14 employees.

Along with the space to house all his employees, King said it will be beneficial to have space for the office’s files. He also noted it will be good to have secure space for meetings and a classroom for things like teen court and other preventative programs.

King expects his office to be moved over quickly on Tuesday. He hopes to start doing some work in the new building as early as Wednesday, though he noted they’ll still be getting organized and adjusted.

“We’ll be in some boxes and in disarray, but we’ll be operational,” he said.

Moving out

Because the justice center will be equipped with new furnishings, staff will be most doing their own moving.

“We’ve abandoned the dress code for the next few days, so we can work in our jeans,” King said.

Detectives with the Austin Police Department are slated to move into the old correctional services, so King noted his employees will need to clean their offices as they move out.

County Coordinator Criag Oscarson said there are many things that will be able to move over without vehicles. For example, King said he plans to push the Correctional Services copier over because it’s fitted with wheels.

Oscarson estimated at least 30 people will be working on the move, along with a Lochner’s Moving Inc., who will help take some of the large items over.

“There’s going to be something that’s not going to work right. … There’s always going to be that stuff, but there’s been a humongous amount of training right now for staff in terms of the systems,” Oscarson said.

Oscarson said they plan to be fully open for business by Sept. 20.