Built to house the district court, municipal court, county attorney, Leavenworth Police Department, Leavenworth County Sheriff’s Department and the county jail, the new $23 million facility is the fruition of more than five years of work.

In his address to a crowd of about 100 Wednesday morning, Leavenworth Mayor Ken Bower compared the lengthy project, which ultimately put city and county entities under one roof, to a marriage: “You have struggles it’s never easy.”

But the result is a unique concept, he said, made possible by voters in the county.

“Without their vision and support for a project like this, we never would have had it,” Bower said.

Harley Russell, who referred to the Justice Center as the largest dollar project in the history of the county, served as chairman of the citizens committee for the project.

“It was a long and committed effort, and complex,” Russell said. “Clear lines of communication and coordination were a must.”

Primary challenges, Russell said, included staying within the budget and being on top of technology and communication needs within and between departments.

Russell recognized the citizens and officials who have been involved with the project and he urged others to volunteer.

“Give of your talents in some way,” he said. “Whatever you do, do something give a little part of yourself to the community.”

Kansas Supreme Court Justice Robert Davis said the county’s original courthouse, built in 1877, was destroyed by fire and, in 1913, was rebuilt at the same location.

“It remains today a symbol of ordered liberty, freedom and justice,” Davis said.

The new Justice Center, which is just across the street east of the courthouse, is “a shining jewel of our community.”

At a reception following the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Rudy Stupar, deputy warden for programs at Lansing Correctional Facility, said having courtrooms in this building should help law officers.

“When we bring inmates here for trials or hearings, we can take them straight to the courtroom,” Stupar said. “We won’t have to bring them in in front of anybody else. From a security aspect, this is definitely a plus.”

Mike Fickel, Shaughnessy Fickel and Scott Architects Inc., worked on the plans from the beginning.

“It really works very, very well,” Fickel said. “It’s an efficient building, and we’re pleased with what we could accomplish within the budget. And it’s finished on schedule.”

Construction began in October 1998.

George Sprague, Tonganoxie, was a county commissioner when plans for the center were launched.

He recalled that the Nov. 5, 1996, election approved a countywide 10-year, one-cent sales tax to finance, among other things, the Justice Center.

“The county in and of itself could not, by statute, get the sales tax,” Sprague said. “It had to be a cooperative effort of the cities.”