FRANKLIN COUNTY — The Franklin County Board held a special meeting Monday afternoon to get the ball rolling on plans to complete renovations to the Campbell Building and for the new county courthouse in Benton.

Franklin County Board Chairman Randall Crocker says the board primarily discussed the Campbell Building and getting an architect for that project at the meeting.

The board also discussed financing for the project and surveying the property around where the courthouse sits now to see what the county owns. No decisions were made at Monday’s meeting regarding the new courthouse.

Plans call for moving the Franklin County Clerk’s office and the County Treasurer’s office into the Campbell Building when renovations are completed. Crocker is hoping this will be done in the next few months.

The Franklin County Circuit Clerk’s office and courtrooms will move to the vacant antique store building on the east side of the Benton Square. The county will rent space there from the building’s owner for the courts and the Circuit Clerk’s office until the new courthouse is finished.

As for the when the one percent sales tax will go into effect for the courthouse project, Crocker says the goal is to have it going by July 1 at the earliest. The county is working to get the information about the sales tax to the Illinois Department of Revenue so it can take the proper steps in implementing the change in Franklin County.