CLEVELAND, Ohio - Cuyahoga County plans to hire a consultant to help officials determine the future of the Justice Center.

The consultant will assist the county and those who work in the Justice Center to "review facility requirements and opportunities," according to a request for qualifications issued by the county's public works department. "This may include reviewing options for renovating the entire complex, constructing a new one, or a combination of approaches."

For four years, county officials have considered the future of the 41-year-old complex, which sits on prime land for development. They have commissioned reports and met with judges and other tenants of the building.

The complex, which takes up a city block between St. Clair Avenue and Lakeside Avenue, includes a 25-story Court Tower, 10-story jail, 11-story jail addition, nine-story Cleveland Police Department Headquarters and 432,500 square feet of underground parking. The complex is connected by a sky-lit central atrium, which serves as the secure public entrance.

The county was motivated to hire a consultant following an agreement with the city in June to take over jail operations and purchase Cleveland's police headquarters and jail for $9.25 million.

According to the county's request for qualifications "the buildings that house most of the county's justice functions have not received significant renovation in many years. Opportunities may exist to rebuild or otherwise improve justice facilities, operations and efficiency for the benefit of the public, municipalities, the judiciary and many stakeholders."

County officials have estimated the cost of repairs at $300 million.

K2M Design, along with Osborne Engineering in 2014 completed an extensive assessment of the condition of the 2.29 million-square-foot Justice Center complex.

The report, issued in spring 2014, included several options to upgrade or replace portions of the center. The most expensive option, at $429 million, was to demolish and rebuild the Cleveland police headquarters and the courts tower.

The firms did not study the possibility of demolishing the entire complex and the cost to rebuild at another location.

In December 2015 the county agreed to pay $50,000 to K2M and $12,500 to the Thompson Hine law firm to study those options. A county spokeswoman said she is trying to determine if the report has been completed. No report has been released.

A former Cuyahoga County architect estimated it could cost up to $1 billion to replace the complex.

County officials met with judges and others who use the building in 2016 to determine their views. Cuyahoga County Common Pleas and Cleveland Municipal Court judges had admonished County Executive Armond Budish's decision to hire an outside agency to consider building a new justice center without consulting the building's judicial tenants.

The group this year developed eight guiding principles, which the consultant should follow, the document said.

They are:

Process Cost Control Operations Dignity Security Access to Justice Flexibility Integration

The consultant will coordinate, plan and monitor whatever project is determined and will "make recommendations for short and long-term upgrades to the facilities to enable efficient operations and all considerations informed by the eight Guiding Principles, including new construction, if deemed necessary," the document says.