Negotiators from Pullman and Whitman County reached an agreement to continue district court services in Pullman for another year.

Whitman County Commissioner Art Swannack said the district court will remain at the current city hall building while Pullman relocates city hall to a new building.

He said Pullman pays for district court services from the county and the cost was renegotiated to $450,000 per year. Before this negotiation, the cost had remained at a flat rate of $357,000 per year since 2012.

Swannack said both Pullman and the county want to keep district court services close by for city residents and WSU students.

The district court will not be housed at the current city hall building indefinitely, Swannack said, and other locations in Pullman are being considered.

They contemplated Pioneer Center at 240 SE Dexter St. as a promising option, but Swannack said there are zoning issues that still must be worked out before it can be confirmed.

Whitman County Commissioner Michael Largent said some cities have adversarial relationships with their surrounding counties and sometimes try to annex county property to boost revenue.

He said Pullman’s relationship to Whitman County is an exception, and county and city officials both want to maintain the relationship they have.