On October 16th, a delegation from the Red River Parish Police Jury is scheduled to travel to view the Bienville Parish Courthouse. Jury Vice President Ben Taylor announced the trip at the October meeting last week.

The present courthouse was constructed in 1928. It is in need of repair due to water damage. The agencies occupying the building are also in need of more space from which to operate. The roles of those offices have expanded considerably since ’28. Taylor said many repairs are needed to our courthouse and the cost of repairs could be greater than the cost of building a new one. And repairing the courthouse would not solve the lack of space situation.

Taylor told the jury that Bienville Parish constructed a new courthouse within the past few years. It houses all parish agencies. Members of the jury want to see what they built with an eye to perhaps constructing a new facility here.

Meanwhile the police jury is going to have the lot across East Carroll Street from the courthouse cleared. The slab, trees and debris would be removed from the site. It is projected for that work to be completed this year.