Moving the circuit court from the building would require a voter referendum — a possibility for November, as the supervisors continue to weigh options.

One idea studied has been to use the entire courthouse building for circuit court and "move juvenile court and general district court to a different facility," said Circuit Court Judge Sage Johnson.

But, Johnson said, that would mean duplication of security staff and equipment, plus the inconvenience of having courts at different locations.

Among the options: Spend $15 million to renovate the current courthouse. But, Berry said, that would be like putting a "Band-Aid" on space problems for only a few years and ultimately require building a new courthouse at an even greater cost.

Most expensive upfront option: Build a new courthouse from the ground up at a total cost of $57 million.

Another idea: Buy the old Kmart and renovate it to become a courthouse at a $43 million total cost, including financing.

The Kmart building is now owned by K-VA-T Food Stores Inc., the parent company of Food City.

"We went to them and said, ‘Is this building available?’" Supervisor Phillip McCall said after the town hall meeting.