FORT PIERRE — Elderly or disabled visitors to the Stanley County Courthouse can’t get to the building’s lower level without climbing stairs. Even the upper level is only accessible via a decades-old lift. The Stanley County Commission said Tuesday it believes it’s time for the building to get an accessibility upgrade.

Commissioners heard a presentation Tuesday from Darrel Statema, a representative of a Sioux Falls company that sells elevators and lifts, about possible ways to make the multi-story building more usable for people with difficulty climbing stairs.

“What they have now is a unit that gives access from the ground level to the second floor only,” said Statema, the Sioux Falls branch manager of the Omaha-based Access Elevator & Lifts, Inc. “There is no accessibility to the lower level.”

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The upper level of the Stanley County Courthouse contains county offices and the courtroom. The lower level contains the Fort Pierre city offices, the Extension office, the sheriff’s office and the meeting room for the Fort Pierre City Council and the Stanley County Commission.

Pat Jesso, utility clerk for the city of Fort Pierre, said the lack of access to the lower levels of the courthouse poses regular problems for people trying to pay their bills.

“People want to pay their utility bills but can’t get down the steps,” Jesso said. “I’ve had to go outside and meet them at their vehicle.”

Public meetings can also pose a difficulty.

“There are people that can’t get downstairs for council meetings there,” Jesso said.

Stanley County Commission chairman Donald Jacobson said he had great difficulty getting downstairs when he was recently in a wheelchair for six months with a leg injury.

The commission is deciding between two possibilities — a new vertical lift similar to the lift already in place but providing access to both floors of the building, or a horizontal lift which would slide along the stair railings. Commission members said Tuesday they are leaning toward a vertical left, which would take up less space.

The materials and installation for a vertical lift would cost $25,000, while a horizontal lift would cost $39,000. Construction to prepare the building for the lift will cost additonal money. The vertical lift involves more construction work, Statema said, which would make both lifts approximately equal cost to the county.

The Hughes County Courthouse has a full elevator allowing visitors access to all public areas of the building, county manager Kevin Hipple said.

"We have public floors on all three floors, plus we’ve got public offices in the basement. It allows the public to access all these regardless of their physical abilities," Hipple said. "Overall, it makes life a whole lot easier."

Despite the cost, Stanley County Commission members said making the building more accessible is important.

“We need to do something,” said commissioner Jim Stoeser.