New courtroom design

The main courtroom in Mason County's historical courthouse just had a makeover, courtesy of Judge Monty Cobb and Thomas Jefferson.

The new design puts the jury box in the center, in front of the judge's bench, so jurors look face-to-face with witnesses.

Jefferson championed the design, now known as Virginia revival. The United States' third president didn't like jurors off to the side.

"He was of the mindset that the jury is the centerpiece of the justice system," Cobb, who's a superior court judge, said.

About a dozen jury-centered courtrooms are used in Virginia. In 2023, the federal courthouse in Charlotte, North Carolina was redesigned to include a jury box dead center.

Cobb read about the North Carolina courtroom while searching for a way to get the superior courtroom ready to use. Superior court trials were being held in Building 10, 414 West Franklin St. in Shelton, but the building would be renovated in February for district court, Cobb said. This meant moving trials back into the smaller space.

"We have some limitations with the courthouse being a historical building," Cobb said.

The jury box was "barely big enough for 12," Superior Court Administrator Paddy McGuire said.

Trials typically have 12 jurors with one or two alternates.

"How do you get 13 or 14 seats in a space that's barely big enough for 12?" Cobb asked.

McGuire said the courtroom would also have to be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The old jury box was 16 inches high, so didn't meet ADA requirements, he said. It also would have needed a wheelchair ramp that would not fit.

"It was just unworkable," McGuire said.

Cobb and McGuire were brainstorming ideas, like installing mechanical lifts, when Cobb performed "a random internet search" and saw the center jury box.

"I looked at the design and grabbed Paddy and showed him," Cobb said.

They found a tape measure.

"We said this could work," Cobb said.

"It's going to be tight," McGuire added.

While the federal courthouse in North Carolina was designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects with funding by Congress, Mason

County's budget was a bit tighter.

Facilities workers helped Cobb and McGuire implement the new style.

They kept the original judge's bench and added a rail.

Cobb said sound was bad in Building 10, formerly Olsen Furniture.

"It was great because we had space, but a complaint I heard all the time was 'I can't hear you.'"

Jurors were off to the side and couldn't hear proceedings, he said.

"It was just awkward," according to Cobb.

In the remodeled courtroom, jurors are only a few feet away from witnesses.

Cobb said the new design also puts an end to arguments between the defense and prosecution about who gets to sit closest to the jury.

"They're the same distance," Cobb said.

The witness has a table directly in front of the jury box and lawyers' tables are placed evenly to each side.

The jury can watch video exhibits from a pull-down screen in the back of the courtroom and a monitor for the witnesses and the public gallery can be viewed on the witness table, McGuire said.

"From a judge's point of view, the only real change is instead of turning to read instructions to the jury, they'll be in front. You'll be looking at the backs of their heads. That's OK. One of the instructions is don't pay attention to the judge. You're not supposed to be reading anything into the judge's expressions," Cobb said.

The remodeling was completed at the end of January and there hasn't been a jury trial yet.

"We sit here ready to roll and see how it works," Cobb said.