Story by: Jason Wert

The Greene County Commission has approved the purchase of the Tefft Building from the Springfield School District, with the goal of making the building the new home for the Greene County Family Justice Center.

The county will be buying the property for ten dollars. The vote was unanimous, with Presiding Commissioner Bob Dixon’s vote counting twice because Commissioner John Russell is on vacation and not at the meeting.

The Springfield R-12 School Board will also need to approve the agreement.

The agreement will include the assumption of an agreement with the Springfield-Greene County Park Board for use of the gymnasium on the property that was signed in 1999.

The building will be the new home of the Greene County Family Justice Center, current housed inside the Judicial Center on Boonville. The Center is currently out of space and unable to expand despite an increase in need for their services.

“We’re very pleased that we’re moving forward,” Greene County Prosecutor Dan Patterson told OI. “We look forward to next year when we’ll be able to expand services so we can better serve victims in that new location. Plus, it frees up another courtroom to make us more efficient in the courthouse.”

The building purchase will not only allow the Justice Center to gain needed space, it will also allow space to open in the Judicial Center for a new circuit judge.

Read the original story here.