There is one way Eau Claire County's new justice center could be built in Altoona's River Prairie development, and it wouldn't require changing the county seat.

When Altoona first suggested in July that the county consider some of its land for a new justice center, officials said that would require changing the county seat - a difficult task requiring a petition from 40 percent of registered voters and passage of a binding referendum.

But when looking deeper into the idea, County Attorney Keith Zehms noticed that state law has a different method that could allow a new justice center to be built in land currently in Altoona's boundaries.

It's similar to annexation, but because one city or village cannot annex property from another, the process is called "detachment" and it requires a couple of extra steps.

Altoona would have to agree to detach the parcel, and then Eau Claire would have to agree to accept it.

Instead of seeking thousands of votes to change the county seat, the detachment process would only require a three-quarters majority vote of the Altoona and Eau Claire city councils to transfer the land's jurisdiction. That's 14 votes.

Altoona first suggested part of its River Prairie property for a new justice center after the Eau Claire City Council in June voted 6-5 against allowing a new jail next to the current courthouse on Oxford Avenue.

Altoona City Administrator Michael Golat said a courthouse and jail would stimulate commercial investment at the city's mixed-use development off U.S. 53.

"We believe it fits well with our development," he said.

Golat acknowledged that a downside of having a county facility is that it would not be taxable property for Altoona. But he still plans to meet with the county's committee that recently formed to recommend a justice center site.

Altoona is still just one contender among three dozen parcels that were submitted to the newly formed county Select Committee to Recommend Justice Center Building Sites. That committee is scheduled to meet Monday night to winnow down the list.

However, for Altoona and the 13 other suggested parcels outside Eau Claire city boundaries, the County Board removed one legal hurdle for them to advance as potential sites.

At Tuesday night's County Board meeting, supervisors approved removing some language from county law that narrowly defined the county seat.

The county code had defined the county seat as the specific location of the courthouse, but it was changed Tuesday to represent the entire city of Eau Claire. The county seat is the "capital" of a county where offices of elected officers, including judges, must reside.

County Board Vice Chairwoman Colleen Bates said the change also removed an outdated reference to the city's boundaries, making the county definition of the county seat more flexible so it can incorporate annexations and other changes to Eau Claire city boundaries.

"This now simply says it's the boundaries of the city," she said.

A vote to table the change failed 12-15. Those who wanted to postpone said modifying the definition of county seat was premature because a site for new justice facilities has not yet been selected.

Dowd can be reached at 833-9204, 800-236-7077 or andrew.dowd@ecpc.com.