PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WMBB) — Local leaders worked with Washington for years to bring a federal courthouse back to Panama City.
The court left town when a lease on an old building in downtown Panama City expired in 2018. Plans seemed to be moving forward with a renovated courthouse at the site of the Juvenile Justice Courthouse on 11th street. But, the GSA, federal agency overseeing that project, shut it down after the judges who were supposed to occupy the building said they would not move in due to health concerns.
The county says those concerns were addressed. Meanwhile, Rep. Neal Dunn, R-Panama City, says he is working on a solution.
“I haven’t given up yet,” Dunn said. “I think that it’s important to have a federal courthouse located you know centrally between Tallahassee and Pensacola. This is the obvious location. We’re going to work with the agency to see if we can find a location that works for them here.
Dunn said it may be a matter of asking a judge to leave Pensacola or Tallahassee in order to make a new life for themselves in Panama City.
“I think it’s partly convincing the judge, one of the federal judges, that they need to kind of base themselves here,” Dunn said.
The Bay County Commission’s steering committee said they spent three years and about four million dollars to prepare the facility. They are now waiting for more direction from the federal government.
