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Risser refuses to sell law office

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Faced with a County Board resolution that would build a new county courthouse around his law office building, state Sen. President Fred Risser, D-Madison, said Monday he is still not interested in taking any offers for his property.

“I’m not interested in selling,” Risser said. “If they want to pass a resolution to build around it, they can go right ahead.”

The building, which has been in Risser’s possession for 40 years and has housed his law office for over 30, has added another hurdle to the on-going debate over the location for the newly designed courthouse.

Currently, the $44 million courthouse construction plan is slated to begin next fall, though the county has not yet acquired all the properties on the location.

The County offered Risser $728,000 for his 70-year-old building at 140 W. Wilson St., but Risser countered the offer, requesting a minimum of $1.7 million.

Supv. David Blaska, District 7, introduced the resolution to take Risser’s law office off the list of properties to be demolished in preparation for the courthouse’s construction.

He told the Capital Times Risser’s property value would decrease if the courthouse is built around the building.

“I don’t want to see the county pay $700,000 or $1.7 million for that building,” Blaska said. “He can have his memories and his building. Once we build this without him, his property is worth nothing.”

Risser said the county is still able to practice eminent domain, in which case the county could condemn the property and subsequently take control of the building.

“If the county condemns it, I’ll go elsewhere,” Risser said. “But if they don’t want it, I have no intention of moving.”