HERMANN – In the latest move to provide more efficient county government services, two departments are planning to swap locations in the historic courthouse.

In a plan initially proposed several months ago by Presiding Commissioner Tim Schulte, R-Hermann, the heads of the County Assessor’s Office and the Circuit Clerk’s Office are working out the details of trading places.

The Circuit Clerk’s Office will be going to the second floor, putting it only steps away from the main courthouse and across the hall from the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and next door to the courthouse office of the Sheriff’s Department. The Assessor’s Office will be moving to the first floor, across the hall from the County Collector’s Office. The two offices work closely together regarding the assessment of property values and the payment of county taxes that are based on those assessments.

Assessor Julia Baker and Circuit Clerk Jennifer Schneider Thursday morning outlined the proposed move to the County Commission.

“We did a lot of group thinking,” Baker said of the consideration of such a move by the two departments’ staffs. “It just helps us a lot,” Baker said of a relocation of the departments.

The Circuit Clerk’s Office would benefit greatly, the officials said, by being on the same floor as the other judicial offices. Aside from being across the hall from the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, being on the second floor puts the circuit clerk and her staff closer to the judges’ chambers avoiding possibly repeated trips up and down the stairs to deliver case files and documents.

The assessor and circuit clerk tentatively are planning to make the move while work is being done to create a doorway into the newly created Recorder of Deeds Office on the first floor.

“Our thought was…maybe you let us move and add a little to the chaos” that will be generated by the work that will be done to get the Recorder of Deeds Office ready for business on Jan. 1, Schneider told the Commission.

As for the cost of trading places, the officeholders said the only significant expense would be relocating the server in the Circuit Clerk’s Office. Because that office is a state government office, only specific people can do that work,Schneider explained, to ensure security of the system. The circuit clerk said she did not have a cost estimate for the relocation of the server.

Northern District Associate Commissioner Jim Holland, R-Hermann, appeared to favor the proposal in principle, but wants more expense information. “I would like to know what the server cost is going to be,” he said.

As for the two departments’ office workers, they are in favor of the move, said Baker and Schneider.

“All additional staff is on board,” Baker said.

“It’s all kind of falling into place,” Schneider added.

County Clerk Lesa Lietzow endorsed the proposed office swap.

“I thin it’s great they’ve decided to go ahead” with the plan. “I think it’s a great thing,” she said.

Expenses associated with the reorganization could be handled through several possible sources, Baker said. For instance, she should be able to use the interest generated by the Assessment Fund. The county’s General Fund might have some funds available and there might be some funds available through a Circuit Court fund that was used earlier to make improvements to the main courtroom.