§41-10-275. Terms and conditions of leasing by authority.

The authority, as lessor, and the Unified Judicial System, as lessee (acting by and through the Chief Justice or his designee) are hereby authorized to enter into a lease or leases for the use and occupancy of the judicial facilities constructed by the authority under the provisions of this article by the Unified Judicial System, including the Supreme Court, the Court of Criminal Appeals, the Court of Civil Appeals, the State Law Library and the Administrative Office of Courts. Such lease or leases may commence, at the discretion of the authority and the lessee, at such time as the judicial facilities are completed and available for occupancy or at such time as the site for such judicial facilities is made available for construction of the judicial facilities. The responsibilities for control, management and maintenance of the judicial facilities shall be, and any lease entered by the authority, as lessor, shall provide that the control, management and maintenance of such facilities are, vested in the lessee.

Should any space become vacant in the judicial facilities constructed by the authority, the authority may enter into a lease or leases with any public entity. If any space remains vacant after an attempt to lease to public entities, the authority may enter into a lease with private entities but only in order to prevent default in the bonds of the authority. Any such lease with a private entity shall not be for the purpose of competing with private enterprise or for lending public credit but shall be solely for the use and benefit of the holders of the authority's bonds to avoid default thereon and to insure the prompt payment of the principal thereof and interest thereon when due. No free space shall be available in the said judicial facilities so long as the principal of or interest on any bonds, including refunding bonds, issued by the authority remains unpaid. The authority may also enter into leases with respect to concession space such as space for a cafeteria, lunch room, or vending machines, if it shall determine that such concession will not interfere with, but will better serve, the occupants of the said judicial facilities and that the use of a portion of the judicial facilities by concessionaires will not adversely affect the holders of the authority's bonds.

Leases by the authority of the judicial facilities financed from the proceeds of the authority's bonds shall provide for rental payments sufficient to pay debt service on the bonds of the authority due and payable during the term of such leases. Rental payments shall be due in advance on the first day of the fiscal year and shall, upon being so paid, entitle the lessee to quiet possession and maintenance, repairs, utilities and other customary office building services, as agreed upon in the lease for the remainder of said fiscal year. The rental payment for the first year or part of a year shall be due and payable when the authority notifies the lessee that the space is tenantable, and the rent for the remainder of the then current fiscal year shall be prorated in the same proportion as the number of days then remaining in the then current fiscal year bears to the total number of days in such fiscal year. Notwithstanding the foregoing, leases of the judicial facilities may provide for monthly rental payments so long as the obligation of the lessee to make such rental payments during the term of the lease is absolute and unconditional.

Leases by the authority may contain and grant to the lessee successive options of renewing the said lease on the terms specified therein for any subsequent fiscal year, provided that no lease to the state or any agency or department thereof, nor liability for the payment of rent, shall ever be for a term longer than one fiscal year. So long as the state or any department or agency thereof is the lessee of the judicial facilities, the obligation to pay rent and each covenant on the part of the state or such department or agency, shall be paid and performed solely out of the current revenues of the state for the fiscal year for which the lease is effective. Any such lease may contain appropriate provisions as to the method by which the lessee may, at its election, exercise any of the said options of renewal.

In the event that the judicial facilities of the authority or any portion thereof should become vacant or not be used by the Unified Judicial System, including the Supreme Court, the Court of Criminal Appeals, the Court of Civil Appeals, the State Law Library and the Administrative Office of Courts, then such entities shall not rent, purchase, acquire, construct or lease any office, courtroom, library or similar facility so long as the judicial facilities of the authority or any portion thereof shall remain vacant or unused and so long as any of the bonds of the authority shall remain outstanding and unpaid.

(Acts 1986, No. 86-420, p. 627, §16.)