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Show State to lease court space in new county jail complex By SCOTT SUMMERILL FARMINGTON The state of Utah has agreed to lease 27,381 square feet of the judicial block of Davis County's new jail complex for five and a half years for $1,694,883 to conduct court business. busi-ness. County Property lianager Ralph Wilcox and Couy Financial Analyst Lamar Holt presented the lease agreement to the Davis County Coun-ty Commission last week. Wilcox said the state will lease four courtrooms in the new facility, leaving 4,998 square feet for the county attorney's offices. In addition, addi-tion, the state will have the option to buy the courtroom space from the county for $3,788,210. The purchase price is based on the county's cost of $90 per square foot plus land costs and soft costs of building the facility. The state will have the option to buy prior to renewing the lease, or any time during dur-ing the lease period, according to Wilcox. If the state opts to buy, none of the monies paid under the lease agreement would go toward the purchase. "Essentially what they're doing is paying interest on the bond and maintenance costs,' Wilcox said. "None of us are out to make money on the deal. We're just trying to cover costs." Under the lease, the state will pay $11 per square foot the first six months, with adjustments after that bringing the final per square foot charge to $11.50 for the last five years of the lease. "I feel very comfortable with the lease," Holt said. Wilcox explained that under state legislation, district courts, which were under county control, were taken over by the state on July 1, 1989. As a result, the state must now rent space for the courts to operate. |