PAGE 2, AUGUST 17, 2009, THE ISLANDER
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Restored Ballard school gets new tenants
• Departments find new home in historic building
Brunswick meeting to address civil legal needs
Recent study reveals justice gap among income levels
Although a majority of the build
ings that once made up Ballard School
on Brunswick's Old Jesup Road have
been demolished, two of the original
buildings remain at the site of the
historic school.
Glynn County Board of Commis
sioners has just finished the exten
sive renovation of a building that will
become home to a number of agencies
in two weeks.
On Friday, August 28, County
employees and the Glynn County
Extension Agents and Specialists will
move into their new home. The UGA
Cooperative Extension, as well as the
4-H program will share the building
and continue to offer the services
they’ve become known for over the
last 92 years. Expanded office space,
meeting rooms and facilities will
allow them to expand their services
which will include the addition of a
“Community Garden” at the Ballard
site.
“We are thrilled to be moving into
a new home”, said Robi Gray, 4-
H Extension Coordinator. “We are
excited about the opportunities we
will be able to offer our community
and youth. We look forward to serv
ing the community and keeping the
educational integrity of Ballard for
many generations to come.”
Assistant County Administrator
Paul Christian has been the project
manager for renovations of the old
Ballard School. Now to be named
“The Ballard Building,” the major
ity of the reconstruction work has
been conducted by inmates with the
perimeter construction unit from
Ware State Prison.
The 10,500 sq. ft. building will cost
approximately $550,000. The $52.38
per ft. cost yielded the County a sav
ings of $1.5 million on the project.
“We are extremely fortunate to
have the continued support of Geor
gia Department of Corrections” said
Christian, who has used inmate crews
on past projects, including renovations
to the Office Park building. “When
crews were cut in other parts of the
state, we were one of the few areas
that maintained use of this resource.
It has enabled us to save millions of
dollars over the last few years.”
The County Extension and 4-H
program currently operate from the
Office Park building on Gloucester
Street. Comprised of several offices,
The civil legal needs of low and
moderate income households in south
east Georgia will be the focus of a
roundtable discussion Friday, August
21, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Glynn
County Courthouse.
Sponsored by the Supreme Court
of Georgia’s Committee on Civil Jus
tice, the local meeting is part of an
ongoing initiative to improve access
to the civil justice system in Georgia.
The Committee commissioned a
study of the civil legal needs of the
state’s low and moderate income pop
ulation to provide up-to-date informa
tion and analysis about the current
level of access to the civil justice
system.
Roundtable participants will dis
cuss the findings of the study, con
ducted by the A.L. Burruss Insti
tute of Public Service and Research
at Kennesaw State University, and
begin developing recommendations
to address needs identified in the
process.
“In this discussion, we will identify
the scope of the problem, the exist
ing obstacles to access to justice and
the services offered include Family
and Consumer Sciences, Expanded
Food and Nutrition Education, Agri
culture and Natural Resources and
4-H and Youth Development.
The Board of Commissioners, along
with the County Extension Office, will
host a ribbon cutting and open house
event on Wednesday, August 26. The
ribbon cutting is scheduled for 11 a.m.
at The Ballard Building. The open
house is from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The County is asking for donations
of photographs and other artifacts
to be permanently displayed on the
walls aligning the grand hallway.
For more information, contact Can-
dice Temple, Public Information Offi
cer at 912.554.7412. For more infor
mation on Glynn County 4-H, visit
their website at http://www.ugaexten-
sion.com/glynn/4H/. □
the local resources that are avail
able, as well as open a dialogue on
addressing these issues in our area
of the state,” said Brunswick Judicial
Circuit Superior Court Chief Judge
Amanda Williams, who is hosting the
conference.
‘We have invited leaders from the
local business and legal communities,
state legislators and other citizens to
participate, because we are all stake
holders in closing the justice gap,”
Judge Williams said.
The 2007/2008 Georgia Civil Legal
Needs Study is the first to be conduct
ed in the state since 1994. According
to the study, released last month,
more than 60 percent of low and
moderate income households in Geor
gia experience one or more civil legal
needs per year.
Low-income households, defined as
up to $30,000 annual income with four
people in the household, experience
an average of three civil legal needs
annually, totaling more than 2 million
civil legal needs per year. Households
in the moderate income category (up
to $60,000 annual income for a four-
person household) have an average of
2.63 civil legal needs per year, for an
annual total exceeding 4 million.
Common problems experienced by
these households, according to the
study, include consumer issues, hous
ing, health care, employment, public
benefits, education and family mat
ters. Approximately 75 percent of
participants in the public telephone
survey component of the study said
they did not realize these problems
could be remedied in the justice sys
tem, a key reason they often fail to
seek legal assistance.
The report discusses other obsta
cles interfering with access to the
justice system and how the courts,
attorneys and legal services providers
are responding to the situation.
The Supreme Court of Georgia
Equal Justice Commission Commit
tee on Civil Justice was created by
court order in 2005, began work in
2006 and was charged with the task
of creating equal access to justice for
all Georgians.
The public is invited to attend. Two
hours of Continuing Legal Education
credit will be available at a small fee.
For more information, visit www.
gaccj.org. □
(912) 996-0156
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