FARMINGTON – County commissioners voted Tuesday to move forward to a design phase for a dispatch center.

Representatives of Smith Reuter & Lull Architects of Lewiston and Bethel reviewed some changes to a facilities study of the Franklin County Courthouse and law enforcement offices.

The state judicial branch is willing to move forward to the next step with the county as commissioners explore options to alleviate space constraints and operate more efficiently, firm representative Noel Smith told commissioners.

The state is looking for ways to consolidate court services and preserve historic court buildings, he said.

The new proposal focuses on two sites to improve space, efficiency and security of the dispatch center and courthouse.

The option, which the county building committee recommends, is to consolidate all county and state court services at the courthouse building, with a priority to build a dispatch center on 14 acres of county property where the sheriff’s department, jail and dispatch center are located.

The idea would be to put the emergency dispatchers, sheriff’s department, commissioners, administration and emergency management agency into the new building. It would also be designed for additions, if the Farmington police space study committee decides the best move for the town would be to share space with the sheriff’s department.

That would leave office space open on the main floor of the courthouse to move the district attorney’s office up to those offices, at least temporarily, and accomplish getting all offices out of the basement.

Architects propose to renovate the existing historical four-story courthouse and build a four-story court annex building adjacent and offset to it in the parking lot. A connecting structure would become the new main entrance.

The basement of the courthouse would be used for storage, boiler and janitor’s rooms, and a break room for employees.

The main floor of the courthouse would have consolidated space for clerks of courts, register of probate and affiliated records, research and storage rooms. The same floor in the annex building would hold family court, a mediation room, waiting area and judge’s chambers. The third floor in the courthouse, where superior court is located, would mostly remain the same except for a secure holding area for prisoners. The third floor of the annex building would be the District Attorney’s Office and the law library. A mechanical room, storage and a future office would be located on the fourth floor of the courthouse. On the same floor in the annex would be the registry of deeds.

If the consolidation of court services goes through, the state would become a funding partner in the project and possibly take the burden off the county for sole maintenance and future needs at the courthouse, Smith said.

The firm will bring a new contract for commissioners to review at the Sept. 23 meeting.

In other business, commissioners voted to set up an 18-month budget and to change the fiscal year to July 1, 2010, to June 30, 2011.

Clerk Julie Magoon said she has already instructed department heads to build a 12-month budget to take the county through 2009 and a six-month budget to get them through the first half of 2010.

The county will explore options to ease an 18-month budget on municipalities including possibly setting up a payment plan to get them through the additional six months they’ll be budgeting for in early 2010.