Nearly five years after Hurricane Katrina's floodwaters covered the first floor of the courthouse in Chalmette and submerged many records in the clerk's office, the parish is preparing for a monumental move that will put nearly 100 staff members in a series of six vacant buildings in the Village Square shopping center. Repairs to the 70-year-old courthouse were coming anyway, but contractors discovered elevated levels of mold in the building last year that prompted parish government and FEMA officials to decide that the building should be emptied for a thorough renovation.

Once the staff is moved out, contractors will remediate the mold in the building and then move forward with a complete overhaul of the courthouse's electrical and plumbing systems. Since Katrina, there has been no hot running water in the courthouse. There was no professional remediation after the flood, only a cursory cleaning where some employees wiped down the walls and floors. From the New Orleans Metro Crime and Courts News.