Current Conditions
55°F - P/SUNNY
(1190) (624) (623) (572) (527) (255) (159) (109) (101) (90) (62) (39) (30) (18) (9) (8) (6) (2)
"This is the first time we've gotten this far," U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, a longtime champion of the project, said Wednesday during a visit to Lancaster.
Specter talks about U.S. courthouse
There are hurdles still to be cleared — namely approval from the judiciary and Congress and the selection of a site — but Specter appeared hopeful the 20-year-old effort to bring a courthouse here would come to fruition.
"We have to get the final approval of the judicial council, and that is a judicial agency which makes the determination on allocation of this area's needs and contrasts them with other needs," said Specter, a Democrat who is facing re-election next year.
"But it's been established that we need this."
The 79-year-old senator stopped here for a tour of the Red Rose Transit Authority operations and maintenance facility on Erick Road. RRTA is getting $5 million in federal stimulus money for its $8 million renovation and expansion project, set to begin in September.
U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence F. Stengel, who lives in Lancaster and now commutes to Philadelphia, would preside at the new courthouse. He said the primary beneficiary of putting a federal courthouse here would be law enforcement.
"A lot of criminal cases we get now are cases that, 10 years ago, would have been filed in the counties. Because of the Project Safe Neighborhoods, Route 222 corridor initiative and other similar federal programs, there is an increasing trend for the U.S. attorney to adopt cases that were originally investigated in the counties," Stengel said.
"The advantage to a local federal courthouse is that police appearing as witnesses and citizens appearing as witnesses can appear in court in Lancaster and not travel to Allentown or Philadelphia," Stengel said.
District Attorney Craig Stedman said putting a courthouse here would make law enforcement more efficient.
"Numerous repeat and violent offenders have been successfully prosecuted over the past few years in federal court as a result of the strong partnership between local and federal officials," he said. "However, as it is now, local police and prosecutors spend untold hours driving to and from Philadelphia to take a case to federal court."
In April, federal officials confirmed they were looking at sites for a satellite courthouse in Lancaster city. Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray said there are several possible sites still available in the city, including the vacant Bulova building on Lancaster Square, at the corner of North Queen and East Orange streets.
"I think we're closer now than we've ever been," Gray said.
It remains unclear whether the federal government would purchase or lease a property. "Do they want to rent? Do they want to buy? Do they want to build? What are they going to do?" Gray said.
Specter said, "Those options are being explored. We want to do it in a way which will be most efficient, least costly and get the job done."
The Legal Times, a publication of the National Law Journal, reported that Obama's budget allocates money for a "small courthouse" here. The reference came in a story about a dispute between the federal judiciary and the White House's Office of Management and Budget over the best way to build courthouses.
The line item for the federal courthouse is listed on page 1,115 of the president's budget. It is listed within the spending proposal for the General Services Administration, the branch of government that owns property and leases it to the federal courts and other departments.
Last week, a Senate subcommittee revised next year's appropriations bill and proposed $26.6 million for federal courthouse construction, but did not specify for what location, a Specter staffer said.
"The senator continues to make Lancaster a priority," the staffer said.
Lancaster's facility is expected to be modeled somewhat after smaller, satellite federal courthouses such as the one in Reading, which has three courtrooms — two for district judges and one for a bankruptcy judge.
Through a spokesman, U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts said he was uncertain of when the project could receive final approval and work could begin, but said he was "optimistic" it would happen.
"The timing of it remains in question, though, as Congress and the Obama administration work through and negotiate competing national priorities," Pitts spokesman Andrew Cole said.
E-mail: tmurse@lnpnews.com
