New Courts Building/Photo by Noah Dawson

The Potter County Commissioners’ Court has postponed an executive session to discuss a potential lawsuit and audit regarding the new Courts Building Project.

According to the agenda for the Friday morning meeting, the commissioners were set to consult “with the county’s attorney about contemplated litigation concerning the Courts Building Project” in a closed meeting before returning to an open session “to consider and act upon procuring an outside audit of expenditures” related to the project.

However, neither of those happened during the meeting. Instead, Potter County Judge Nancy Tanner stated that “the executive session has been canceled.”

“I was told it is not needed at this time,” said Tanner. “We’ll address that at another time.”

The project has been controversial since its inception when the county decided to initiate the project without seeking voter approval for the debt.. When asked why, Tanner stated, “if we do a bond election, it could fail.”

The project has since faced delays, cost overruns, and various other problems. The commission voted unanimously to fire their facilities manager earlier this year. Earlier this month, the county hired Underwood Law Firm to help deal with the situation. “We’re getting outside council in to evaluate things,” said Assistant Potter County Attorney Melinda Powell.