CRANBERRY TWP — District Judge Dave Kovach looks forward to the time when attorneys and their clients can meet in a private conference room instead of the district court’s kitchen area.

Thankfully, Kovach said, he and his staff are already starting preparations for moving into the new district court building in the township.

The county this year approved building the new 3,650-square-foot district court on Marshall Road, a facility that will be ready by the end of January.

It will have two private conference rooms where attorneys can meet with clients and a courtroom that can seat up to 30 people. It is expected to cost more than $1 million.

The district judge’s office has outgrown the current capacity in its building on Executive Drive, Kovach said.

Kovach and his staff of four have already started getting ready for the move, which entails archiving court files and other paperwork.

State law mandates that the court keep at least the past three year’s worth of court documents.

“There is quite a body of reports we’re responsible to keep,” he said. “We have to wait three years before we can dispose of them, and we have files even older than that here. It’s just a matter of going through and sorting them.”

The county will own the new building, which is a departure from the current system of renting space.

Kovach added that he might have an open house once it’s finished.