Gardendale Mayor Stan Hogeland and County Commissioner Joe Knight announced Tuesday that the Jefferson County Courthouse Satellite Annex in Gardendale will reopen by the first of the year. 

The courthouse, closed since late 2011, will allow residents to purchase new car tags, renew tags, renew driver’s licenses and will have a tax accessor and tax collector available to residents during busy times. 

The satellite courthouse opened in 2006, but was closed in late 2011 with all the other courthouses as Jefferson County battled their way out of bankruptcy. 

Knight, who had just taken office when the courthouse was shuttered, said he had been working to reopen the courthouse for some time, but the upcoming demolition of “Malfunction Junction” by the Alabama Department of Transportation increased the urgency. He also called Hogeland “instrumental” in the reopening. 

“Since I took office, I have heard about the need for reopening this courthouse from our citizens,” Hogeland said. “I am pleased to be able to announce this.”

Knight and Hogeland said they had been working on this reopening behind the scenes for some time. 

The number of jobs the annex will bring in has not been determined, but the goal is to open between Dec. 1, 2016 and Jan. 1, 2017.

The reopening will be officially voted on by the commission on Thursday, but Knight said the legwork had been done.