MARIETTA — The marquee project of Cobb County’s proposed 2028 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax plan is a $174 million state court building officials say is necessary to address overcrowding, security concerns and the changing needs of a growing county.
The estimated seven-story, 229,000-square-foot building would replace the existing state court facility off Marietta Square, which broke ground in 1994 and officially opened in 1996. The new courthouse would be built on county land not far from the existing building, which would be renovated for further expansion of the county’s judicial complex.
The question for taxpayers is straightforward: Why build a new courthouse when the county already has one?…