(a) Except as provided herein, each county shall provide and own a suitable courthouse, pay all utility and custodial services, and keep such courthouse suitably furnished and equipped for use by the Superior Court, together with suitable offices for the county clerk, assistant judges, and Probate judges. Office space for the Probate Division of the Superior Court may be provided elsewhere by the county. The county shall provide at least the facilities for judicial operations that it provided on July 1, 2009.

(b) If all judicial operations in a county are contained in one court building owned by the State, the county clerk and assistant judges may also be located in the same building. The Court Administrator and the Commissioner of Buildings and General Services shall be the superintendents of the building. They shall make decisions regarding building construction, space allocations, and use of the facility after consulting with the Superior Court presiding judge and the assistant judges. The county shall no longer be required to maintain a courthouse.

(c) The Court Administrator, in consultation with the presiding judge of the Superior Court, shall determine what judicial operations will occur in the county courthouse. (Added 1993, No. 233 (Adj. Sess.), § 45, eff. June 21, 1994; amended 1995, No. 62, § 41, eff. April 26, 1995; 1995, No. 148 (Adj. Sess.), § 4(c)(1), eff. May 6, 1996; 1995, No. 181 (Adj. Sess.), § 7; 1997, No. 121 (Adj. Sess.), § 16; 2009, No. 154 (Adj. Sess.), § 163; 2009, No. 154 (Adj. Sess.), § 163a, eff. Feb. 1, 2011.)