Aging courthouse causes issues for Terrebonne council

State District Judge John Walker attended the Policy, Procedure, and Legal Committee meeting to discuss conditions at the Terrebonne Parish Courthouse.

Councilwoman Terry Cavalier reported recently for jury duty to the courthouse for one of Walker’s cases. Cavalier said she sat with people appearing for child support cases.

“I did not want to be in the same room as those not paying child support,” she told Walker.

Cavalier said that for several hours she had sat next to a man who was later found to be carrying a knife.

In child support cases, “When people disagree, they can get angry,” she said.

Cavalier also complained that the building was insufficiently heated on a cold day.

“We could not leave,” she said.

“People over there deserve the same comforts we have in this building,” she said, referring to the parish government building.

Walker told her that the jury room is being used for child support cases.

“What’s been going on has been going on for years,” he said. “It costs money. What a security disaster those buildings are.”

Parish Facilities Manager David Drury said the heating system was not responding to the thermostat the day Cavalier was in the courthouse.

“The building is a nightmare,” Walker said.

A motion was passed to come up with recommendations on improving conditions at the courthouse.