Editor’s note: This is the second installment of a two-part series from Susan Silk looking into accessibility issues at the Dukes County Courthouse.
Dukes County Commissioner Don Leopold is “horrified” by the description in The MV Times of the conditions in the Dukes County Courthouse, especially as they impact people struggling with physical challenges. Commissioner Doug Ruskin found the situation “embarrassing” for county government.
Dukes County Administrator Martina Thornton said, “The accessibility limitations of the historic courthouse are very unfortunate. Everyone deserves full access to justice, and the current situation at the courthouse causes people who are handicapped to be marginalized.”
However, with the courthouse’s historic designation and age (it was built in 1857), fixing the situation is very complicated. “The county has for a number of years been trying to work with the state, with little success,” Thornton said.
There is no county money to bring the Dukes County Courthouse up to Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards. And there is no money to build a new trial court complex.
According to Thornton, a study of the building completed in November 2024 identified the seven most significant accessibility barriers to be addressed. In 2024, the estimated cost of fixing these to meet ADA standards was $580,450. However, this price did not include the extra cost(s) incurred by doing the repair work on the Island, according to county officials.
“The state was not alarmed by these findings,” Thornton said.
According to Commissioner Ruskin, the commonwealth of Massachusetts pays “below market” rent for the office space it uses in the courthouse (Dukes County owns the building). The rent being paid is based on 87 percent of operating and capital costs of the building –– approximately $60,000 a year.
The Dukes County Advisory Board (CAB), which has the ultimate say about the county budget, wants Dukes County to sell the building. Sell it to whom?
If the courthouse were sold –– the assessed market value is $5.2 million –– where is there ample land on the Island to rebuild and relocate? The airport is often mentioned.
According to Thornton, in a recent assessment of the needs of the trial court, the commonwealth stated that the complex must meet the state’s standards for public buildings, and the trial court would need approximately 100 parking places, as well as additional space for a holding cell and witness protection room. “The land that was once looked at back in 2000 as a potential site at the airport is now most likely rented,” Thornton told The Times.
What about the State Forest? I think that is a location just waiting to help solve this problem. As it has done in the past elsewhere, the Department of Conservation and Recreation could lease land to the attorney general. Then Dukes County could enter into a lease agreement with that department.
State Rep. Thomas Moakley has introduced legislation — co-signed by State Sen. Julian Cyr — that would, if enacted, require that the Island’s trial court be adequately staffed to ensure physical accessibility as well as language assistance when needed. The legislation (HB189) was placed before the House Judiciary Committee on Feb. 27. Rep. Moakley, a member of that committee, declined to state the likelihood of the legislation’s move from committee to the full legislature, let alone passage into law.
“This is the first step,” he said. “I am hopeful.
“Access to justice is a priority of mine,” he added.
But County Administrator Thornton put it well when she said Dukes County is “caught between a rock and a hard place.”
Susan Silk was a print and broadcast journalist for decades. Now a retiree, she volunteers to help nonprofits effectively communicate important issues.
