City and county officials reach legal end to courthouse debate
A situation that has not been clarified since the early 1800s when Warren County was founded has finally reached a legal conclusion Friday.
McMinnville Mayor Royce Davenport and County Executive Kenneth Rogers formally signed and exchanged quit-claim deeds determining legal ownership of Warren County Courthouse and the area around it.
The historic deeds were signed atop the Midway CIC food booth at the fair during a called meeting of the Joint Economic and Community Development Board.
The deeds indicate the county is responsible for the courthouse itself and everything from the outer edge of the sidewalk in. The city is responsible for the streets outside the sidewalk.
The move to clarify who actually owned the property around the courthouse arose over a controversy over parking last year. At that time, and after a lengthy and thorough search through county records, it was determined that no deeds could be found that designated who had legal ownership, leaving the property in a sort of legal limbo.
Although a decision was made late last year, and the deeds drawn up, government officials had yet to formally sign the deeds, a situation the two leaders decided to address at Friday’s meeting, and both officials seemed pleased the issue was at last going to be legally resolved in a cooperative effort between the city and county.
“I think it’s a very significant event in our community’s history,” Davenport said. “The county commissioners, they called them the county court, and the city board worked out various arrangements, building a new courthouse and moving it around to different locations. Unfortunately, no one carried through with the paperwork and we realized many, many years ago there were no actual documents showing which entity owned what piece of property.
“I think it’s a cooperative thing that both of us are signing this today and we’re going to get the deed recorded, so in the future, that won’t be a problem between the city and the county,” Davenport continued.
Rogers agreed the move settled a long-standing issue.
“It has been an ongoing struggle which one kept up with what and was responsible for which grounds,” said Rogers. “This will help us to get that behind us and move on.”