Funding approved for new Sacramento County courthouse
Funding for a new Sacramento County Courthouse was approved Monday, paving the way for a much-larger — and much-needed — building for criminal trials.
The state Public Works Board approved $439.1 million for the courthouse, a lower cost for the project that allows to expand the number of courtrooms from 35 to 44 and more space for holding cells. In addition, the state will shift administrative space to the existing Schaber Courthouse, rather than the original plan for administrative offices to be part of the new building. The Schaber building will also undergo a minor renovation under the plan.
“The new courthouse is long overdue and badly needed … ,” presiding Judge Steve White said in a news release Monday. “The current downtown courthouse is 45 years old. It is inadequate to handle the 25,000 people who enter it every week. The jury room, well beyond overcrowded, spills into the hallways of the courthouse; crime victims are forced to wait in the halls with defendants’ families; and jurors with witnesses online payday advance.”
Criminal trials will be held in the new courthouse, while the Schaber Courthouse will handle civil trials.
The new 405,000-square-foot courthouse includes 44 courtrooms and allows the county to consolidate from seven locations to three, eliminating four leases. Nine new judges will be added to meet the increasing legal demand.
The almost half billion-dollar courthouse is funded by Senate Bill 1407, which provided $5 billion in funding for “critically needed new and renovated court facilities” that use court-user fees rather than the state general fund.
Local architecture firm Nacht & Lewis and global firm HOK have been hired to design the criminal courthouse. The Administrative Office of the Courts expects to choose a site and complete deal for the property in 2011, and begin construction in 2013. The new courthouse should open in 2015.