St. Francois County commissioners voted 3-0 to approve emergency modifications to the old county courthouse that will remove a non-original concrete wall on the top floor and reconfigure space for an additional courtroom to accommodate a newly assigned judge.

Unidentified Speaker 2 opened the discussion by saying, "We're here to, we wanna make modifications in a wall of the existing courthouse," and said the change was needed because "we are getting an additional judge promptly, quickly, and we don't have the justice center ready for that yet." The commission agreed to consider the work as an emergency to speed the timeline.

The plan discussed calls for a contractor to tear out the wall, an operation Speaker 3 said would take "a couple days." The county will not remove the exterior window; instead, Speaker 3 said, the project will add an outside shield similar to work performed on the second floor judge's chambers. Interior work will add doors and a divided room with two entrances into the chambers; a bench will be built in-house and the seating will be modernized from traditional wood benches to chairs.

Logistics discussed include placing a dumpster on the ground floor with a chute to move demolition debris so material is not hauled through the courthouse interior. Speaker 2 noted that the Department of Natural Resources and a historic preservation group restrict changes to the courthouse exterior, which is why the window replacement is not planned and the wall targeted for removal is described as non-original concrete.

Procurement and contract terms were raised before the vote. The speakers said the work will be handled via the county's on-call contractor under a time-and-materials arrangement. Speaker 1 asked whether the contractor Brock Miller would be used and pressed for clarity about wage requirements, saying, "But if for some reason this was to exceed 75,000, we need in writing that they're gonna pay prevailing wage." Speakers agreed the appropriate contract language and any required confirmations would be drawn up.

Speaker 3 moved to approve the courthouse modifications "to better facilitate the courtroom's needs for the, additional judge," and Speaker 1 seconded. The motion passed with commissioners voting "aye" and the tally reported as three ayes. Shortly afterward Speaker 1 moved to adjourn; Speaker 3 seconded and the meeting was adjourned.

The commission did not provide a detailed project budget in the meeting and gave only a rough timeline for demolition; the contractor selection, formal contract language, and any required prevailing-wage documentation were left to be completed after the vote.