 Beltrami County has officially added a fourth courtroom to its judicial building in Bemidji. Reporter Cheryl Moore has a look at the new facility. The Beltrami County Judicial Building was built 15 years ago, and even then officials knew they would need an extra room for future expansion. After the governor's appointment of our prior county attorney, Annie Claus and Huesby, then Beltrami County was assigned four judges, so that's the reason we built this courtroom out. The full project cost about half a million dollars. The technology in the room alone cost $130,000. The courtroom has the same feel and aesthetics as other courtrooms housed in the building. The project was fully completed last month, but renovations started last year. We started doing design work around August and continued on, and then obviously the design work involved quite a few state officials, the judges, the court administration, county staff. Construction on the new Beltrami County Courthouse started late last year in December, and the technology you see all over the courtroom was provided, so that way the trial process runs as smoothly as possible. When we build the courtrooms, we're really trying to be responsive to the technological improvements that keep coming for the juries, for the attorneys, for the judges, for hearing impaired. A lot of monitors, different monitors in different positions to allow the defendant, the witness, judge, everybody in the courtroom, jurors, be able to accurately see the evidence. The attic technology also makes it easier to keep everything organized before it's sent to the state. It has all of the amps, audio equipment, video equipment, and also ties to the state for their M-net lines and video to the state of Minnesota. Another important feature of any courtroom is making sure it's safe, and this one was no exception. We have a number of security features as with all the courtrooms within the building, and so we wanted to stay consistent on all the safety and security features, and so we even added some additional features to this courtroom. Reporting in Bemidji, Shaw Moore, Lakeland News. Beltrami County's newest judge is reportedly already using the new courtroom. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.