Who Gets to Use the Courthouse for Paid Mediations?

Reprinted from the October 7, 2014 Mongoose newsletter.

It would not seem proper for a for-profit flea market to operate in the rotunda of the court of appeals building or a used car lot to be run at the top level of the county parking garage. How then could it possibly be right for an attorney to be allowed to use a courtroom for private, paid mediations? How much influence and stroke would a lawyer have to be able to openly schedule mediations in a courtroom?

Cause No. 2001-48545 was a child custody modification suit. The parties mediated temporary orders with Mary Ellen Hicks. Judge Lisa Millard appointed Gary Polland to be mediator without a request from either party or the amicus once the case was set for a jury trial. Polland eventually wrote the parties to schedule the mediation in a courtroom of the Juvenile Courthouse.

Polland charged $650 per party for the half day mediation. One party and attorney were put in the in the main courtroom and the other side was in a conference room across the hall from the courtroom. Polland did get the case settled.

I have these questions:

How many times has Polland been allowed to conduct mediations in private cases in the courthouse?
Can any attorney sign up to use the courthouse for mediations like this?
Which judge authorized the use of county facilities for a private, for-profit business activity?
Did Polland pay the county any rent for use of the courthouse?