9 Investigates: Courtrooms ‘dangerously' over capacity at Cabarrus County courthouse

CABARRUS COUNTY, N.C. — Getting a ticket is frustrating but some said it quickly turns into a nightmare at the Cabarrus County courthouse where the system is inundated with cases.

Channel 9 was at the courthouse at 8:30 a.m. Friday and a line was already forming outside the courthouse. But the overcrowding that happens inside a courtroom on the second floor has some people raising questions.

Cabarrus County resident Tammy Combs witnessed the crowds first-hand in February when she had to help her daughter with a traffic ticket.

“There were people standing along the edges of the wall because all of the seats were taken,” Combs said. “And there were also people standing two-and three-wide in both aisles.”

Princess Houghton described the same scene when she had to go to the courthouse.

“You have two lines of people from the front, all the way to the back, all three sections full, and then it’s another line on the other side and then they’re covering the door,” Houghton said.

Cabarrus County District Attorney Roxann Vaneekhoven said there’s no question that courtroom space is limited.

“Is there an overcrowding problem? Yes. How does our office manage that? We have no control over how many tickets or cases are charged. We have no control over how big our courtrooms are,” Vaneekhoven said.

The courthouse was built in 1975, when Cabarrus County’s population was barely 80,000 people. It’s now close to 200,000.

The county built a new government center and a new jail, but the courthouse hasn’t changed.

In courtroom 2, a signs said that occupancy by more than 193 is dangerous and unlawful, but Houghton and Combs both said they counted a lot more.

“We did our best to count. We did a head count of over 300 people,” Combs said.

“You’re prosecuting us for breaking the law, but you’re also breaking the law by putting 300, 320 people on a docket and having at least 280 – I know for a fact,” Houghton said.

Channel 9 spoke to Chief District Court Judge William Hamby about the overcrowding concerns.

“So what do you tell this woman who says they’re breaking the law, and they say we’re breaking the law?” Channel 9 reporter Mark Becker questioned.

“I wasn’t here to count. I would suggest that if they want to come in for a regular court date, or we can change the structure, but we’re trying to do it to make it as quick and painless as possible,” Hamby said.

Mark also asked Vaneekhoven who is responsible to count the number of people in the courtroom in order to make sure it’s not over capacity.

“I think certainly we are all responsible to make sure people are safe in that courtroom.”

The Concord fire marshal said there have been complaints about the crowding for years, most of them in the lobby outside the courtrooms and most of the time, inspectors didn’t find any problems.

But Cabarrus County officials said help is on the way.

They’re planning a parking deck, and eventually, an addition to the courthouse in what is now the parking lot behind it.

The county manager is including money for the new courthouse parking deck in his budget for next year. There’s a meeting to show off those plans on May 30 at the Cabarrus County Government Center.

But because those plans are years, judges and prosecutors are looking for alternatives.

“For example, we have started a first appearance court this year,” Vaneekhoven said.

The district attorney’s office is also pushing a new statewide program that lets some defendants handle their tickets online.

Cox Media Group