County employees get reminder
to leave courthouse parking to public

By By Steve Gillespie / staff writer
July 13, 2004
In an attempt to make the courthouse more accessible, county employees will be reminded later this month to leave parking spaces open for the general public.
Lauderdale County District 4 Supervisor Joe Norwood said Monday that if county employees parked in two parking lots next to the Lauderdale County Tourism Bureau, there would be plenty of parking for the public around the courthouse and at the courthouse annex building across the street.
Lauderdale County Administrator Tony Green said county employees will receive notification to park in the Fourth Street parking lots behind the Lauderdale County jail. The notice will be included in their next payroll checks on July 23.
Several county departments have received complaints about the parking situation around the courthouse. Circuit Court Clerk Donna Jill Johnson said parking availability is even more limited when Lauderdale County Circuit Court is in session 27 weeks out of the year and potential jurors arrive for court.
She said when County Court is in session parking places are also scarce.
At 11:20 a.m. Monday there was one open parking space around the courthouse, which has 35 public spaces, two of them designated for handicapped motorists.
Twenty-five of the courthouse public parking spaces are designated for one hour parking. The rest, including the two handicapped spaces, are in 30-minute parking zones.
Also at 11:20 a.m. on Monday, all six of the one-hour parking spaces available in front of the Raymond P. Davis Courthouse Annex building across the street from the courthouse on Constitution Avenue were filled.