A Maine lawmaker is trying to secure state funding to build a courthouse more than a year after mold forced it to abruptly close.
The Newport District Courthouse at 12 Water St. has been closed since Jan. 27, 2025, after mold was found in the building that was leased by the state.
Rep. Kenneth Fredette, R-Newport, is trying to ensure the Legislature secures funding to build a new courthouse in its place before it adjourns on April 15. Fredette, who is also a lawyer, moved to Newport 30 years ago in part because there was a courthouse there, he said.
Maine state law mandates a district court in Newport to serve western Penobscot County, yet there has been no public plan for when and how the courthouse will reopen. The 13-month closure forces people from roughly 20 communities to instead complete an hour-long roundtrip drive to Bangor.
“This is about accountability,” Fredette said. “The judiciary needs to be responsive to what is existing statute and to understand that, at a minimum, we need a plan and a timeline in which the courthouse is going to be moving forward.”
There are two possible paths to securing funding for the Newport courthouse.
A bill passed the House and Senate that expanded the number of counties eligible for part of the $205 million for the judiciary to build or renovate courthouses. The new counties are Cumberland, Franklin, Penobscot and Sagadahoc.
The bill does not provide details on how much money will go to each county and what courthouses it will be used for.
A Newport courthouse is an allowed use for the previously issued bonds if the amendment passes, State Court Administrator Amy Quinlan said during a committee hearing Friday.
Fredette said he will send a letter to Chief Justice Valerie Stanfill asking for her guarantee that some of the money will go to Newport.
“That’s the purpose of my letter going to the chief justice, to say, ‘Are you committing to the Newport courthouse if this bill passes?’” Fredette said.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. David Hagen, R-Hampden, did not respond to a request for comment.
Fredette also has proposed a $4 million amendment to Gov. Janet Mills’ supplemental budget. The state has a roughly $11.9 billion two-year budget.
The amendment specifically asks for a 10-year bond to fund the Newport courthouse from design to furnishing. The full cost would be $5.1 million with interest during that decade, according to the amendment.
Fredette wants one of the two potential avenues to be approved through the legislature by April 15 when it adjourns and sent to the governor’s desk. Then the issue is in Mills’ hands.
The state requested information in November about properties that may be suitable for a new courthouse after negotiations with the landlord stalled, but there was no update on that process as of mid-February.
Government spending has spiked by about $4 billion in eight years, Fredette said. Spending only $4 million to construct a courthouse for rural Mainers is just a drop in that bucket.
“This isn’t rocket science, but it is about our commitment,” Fredette said.