BUCKHANNON – The Upshur County Sheriff’s Office has completed renovations to its headquarters in the courthouse annex that got underway right after Christmas.

Upshur County Sheriff Virgil Miller gave the Upshur County Commission a tour of the newly renovated sheriff’s office Thursday morning during the commissioners’ weekly meeting.

“The county commission did most of the purchasing for everything you see, and all the work was done by the three guys in the maintenance department for Upshur County,” Miller said. “They did all the wiring, painting, the floors – everything.”

Upshur County administrator Carrie Wallace said the renovation project cost about $12,500, covering the reconfiguration of the entryway, the cost of the new flooring, paint and miscellaneous costs. The rest of the work was covered under the county’s 2021-2022 fiscal year budget for regular courthouse upkeep.

Miller said the renovation project was initiated because the carpet throughout the office needed to be replaced.

“The carpet was here for 12 to 15 years – a long time – and it was looking pretty bad,” Miller said. “There was a lot of clutter and we wanted to clear it out, so we talked to the commission, and they made it happen.”

The entire law enforcement section had something renovated, whether it was the wiring, paint, new carpet or new tile on the floors.

“There also lot of clutter and a lot of boxes, so we were able to clear all that, which needed to be done,” Miller said. “[Chief Deputy] Mike Coffman negotiated with Lowe’s for the refrigerator and the cabinets and TV in the conference room, so we can actually have meetings because that’s internet compatible.”

Filing cabinets were moved or taken out and the dividers around officers’ desks were completely removed to make the office less cluttered. The entryway was also completely redone to increase space for the officers.

“They redid the floor and painted the walls, we moved that partition, so we reduced the size of the waiting room and made this a lot better for us coming in and out,” Miller said. “We have also darkened glass in the partition.”

Miller said his favorite part of the renovation was the conference room, and he appreciated the hard work of county facilities director Greg Harris and his team for completing the work.