RENOVATIONS at the Port Macquarie Courthouse are now complete.
The $1.3 million facelift included a new registry, improvements to security, new lifts and enhanced jury facilities.
The registry has information boards containing leaflets on legal procedures and support services, a split-level inquiries counter to enable wheelchair accessibility and a separate meeting room for lengthy or private inquiries.
“Coming to court for the first time can be a daunting experience and the registry is designed to make it faster and easier for people to find the information they need to help them through the process,” Member for Port Macquarie Leslie Williams said.
“Extensive improvements to the accessibility of the courthouse would enable people with a disability to serve as jurors in trials at Port Macquarie.
“Juries should contain a broad cross section of society and I am pleased that people with a disability who are summoned for jury service will now be able to perform this important civic duty.”
Security improvements at the courthouse include an enclosed dock in the local court to reduce the risk of prisoner escapes, a new gun locker and the transferral of the Sheriff’s Office into the more centrally-located registry.
The Port Macquarie Courthouse has been operating since 1986 – the year the city’s historic courthouse, built in 1869, ceased sitting.
