This is another case of a European asking a question about America the answer to which would be obvious to any American. What kind of offices does a courthouse in a stereotypical small American town typically house? You’d think it’s a court, of course, presumably the county court of the county whose seat the town is. But my impression is that these buildings are often rather grand and the centrepiece of the main square in the downtown area. In European towns of comparable size, that distinction is usually held by the town or city hall (which houses the local government offices), and courthouses exist but are not typically among the most lavish public buildings around. So am I right in assuming that they would typically house more than just the county court?
Like most things related to American courts, it varies considerably.
Often the courthouse and city hall are combined, especially in smaller counties. In Washington, the county courthouse is small towns is indeed grand. They did that deliberately, to discourage moving the county seat (“but we already have such a nice and expensive courthouse right here!”).
The Prosecuting Attorney’s office is typically in the courthouse, along with a law library, and the court staff. Perhaps some other county office, like the county clerk or even the sheriff. Except in very small jurisdictions, it’s mainly court-related things only.
One town near me has most of the city offices in the same building as the municipal court, but it’s not the kind of courthouse you’re thinking of. It’s a non-descript city building with a courtroom.
My community’s old Courthouse, (now mostly City offices) was once the State Legislature of Tennessee.
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The county courthouse near me was the place I took my kids to initiate getting them passports. There is also a little office where you can buy a dog license.
Judges normally office in the court house as well.
I think the main distinction is that the City Hall and the County Courthouse are basically the seats for two different levels of government in a lot of states.
For example, the county is the primary sub-state level governmental division here in Texas, with primary responsibility for law enforcement, public health, public works, etc… The County Judge is the highest elected official in the county (their title is not really a job description). The County is also the primary place where the state’s civil and criminal courts are situated.
The City/Town hall is a level below- in my city/County (both Dallas), the County Courthouse is an old ornate 19th century building that’s not too huge, and nearby there’s a larger “annex” that’s a humongous office building where all the work gets done. City Hall is a considerably larger, newer, and architecturally interesting building quite a distance away in Downtown that handles city-related stuff only.
So the County Courthouse is the seat of government and law for a larger area than just the city it’s in, so it makes sense that the building would be somewhat grand, and the local city/town hall might not be so grand, especially in situations where the county seat isn’t the biggest city in the county.
A lot of it is going to be dependent on how the various states organize their subdivisions- some allow cities and counties to be one and the same, others do not.
Aren’t records often kept in courthouses? Real estate, stuff like that?
My recent trip to a county courthouse revealed it to be a most unassuming building - it looked like the kind of standalone one story building that a dentist or pet groomer might have. Inside there was a holding area for suspects (presumably transferred ftom the local jail in some cases), a courtroom (with room for 20 or so people) and at least one tiny prosecutor’s office https://maps.app.goo.gl/DvxKge8ZNbpj3WwM7
It’s actually not - there are way too many ways for this stuff to be organized, so many that most people could only answer for their area. For example, I’m not going to answer for my county because it is completely not representative of anywhere else. But my state has various different courts - Supreme Court, Surrogate’s Court, Court of Claims Family Court, County Court, City/Village Courts, District Courts. There are probably at least 60 different court locations in the county adjacent to mine and they run from grand, downtown courthouses to being a room or two in the village hall. And what else is located in the same building as the court is going to depend on the location -a village court in the village hall will be in the same building as the village mayor, clerk and any other village officials/departments while a county Family Court might have office space for government attorneys, child protective services and treatment programs in the courthouse.
I drove right past it when I was trying to find it - I was looking for the place with marble columns, I guess
Our local courts handle things like traffic tickets, preliminary hearings for routine cases, & some civil cases. There’s a bench for the judge & there are two tables for plaintiff & defendant, with I think, two seats each & probably < 20 seats in the back of the courtroom. There is no jury trials there as there isn’t even a place for them to sit. My last two times there have been for swearing in ceremonies. Except for a small sign, you’d drive right by & never even realize it.
The county has two buildings, the “courthouse” & an office building across the street that holdthe majority of county office employee between them. I think the only employees not based in one of those two buildings are Parks, Hiways, Corrections/jail, 911 Ops & the FD/PD academy. There are a bunch of official reasons one might go to the ‘courthouse’ but never even be on a floor with courtrooms on it - deeds, wills, tax office, dog licenses, county commissioner’s meetings, etc.
I’ve encountered some really impressive County Courthouses. Beyond the grand architecture, assorted offices and courtrooms, they often have really interesting historical displays, murals and ornate decorations. One in particular that comes to mind is the Jasper County Courthouse in Carthage, Missouri with it’s attendant-operated wrought iron elevator.
They run the gamut here in Texas, from the modern El Paso and Harris County courthouses, to the quaint and old ones like in Leon County.
In New Jersey all serious court business is done at the county level. All felonies and civil trials as well as family court, divorces, probate, juvenile court etc. The lavishness of the courts depends on the era they were built. Most are unassuming blocky office buildings with a lot of police cars illegally parked around them. Some are like the one in Hunterdon County where the Lindbergh kidnapping crime of the century trial happened. It has big Greek Revival columns and is considered a historical landmark. Very much different than the ugly 1970s architecture of most of the others.
Unless you are in a big city the municipal court is open part time. In my town it is in the same building as the police station, across from town hall. There are several people who work there full time but the court is in session only twice a week. Full time clerks, prosecutor, judge and public defenders work part time and are full time lawyers somewhere else. At the county level judges, prosecutors and PDs are all full time positions.
In the middle keys of Florida, the courthouse I went to was a double wide trailer.
So the answer to the OP is, it depends.
My folks owned the local credit bureau when I grew up in Anderson, Indiana. In order to rate someone’s credit, they had to know who had been sued for unpaid bills. Mom was always popping down to the courthouse to keep the files up to date. I suppose all that stuff is being done online now.
Here, the police court (for minor offenses) is at the police station; the town court is in town hall. They are not necessarily elaborate offices; in some cases they’re just a single room.
There’s also a county court for more serious offenses. That level of court is usually in an impressive building made of stone. It includes judge’s chambers, rooms for juries (usually off the main courtroom), and public defender’s offices.
Here in North Florida in the smaller, more rural counties the courthouse will typically house (everything after 1 is based on available space):
- The Clerk of the Court staff and courtrooms, judge’s chambers/offices.
- The Supervisor of Elections office/staff.
- The Property Appraiser’s office.
- The Tax Collector’s Office. There will often be satellite offices since this is where you get tags/registrations/licenses and such.
- The County Commission’s offices and staff.
The Sheriff usually has his own place (sometimes at the County Jail, sometimes not).
The first 4 and the Sheriff are the Constitutional Officers. The County Commission is not, they are considered legislative.
That is about the same in much of the rural Midwest. Basically when the courthouse it built it houses everything and when the county grows various departments leave. In one county I am familiar with about 18,000 people (the same population as in 1880) the courthouse [built around 1860] has the Court and Clerk of Court, the Assessor (for property taxes), the Treasurer, Recorder (including land records), Auditor, the Board of Supervisors (the governing legislature). Sheriff/Jail (law enforcement), Conservation (Parks), Secondary (Rural) Roads each have separate facilities.
Thanks everyone. The general theme I’m getting here is that such courthouses are, primarily, actual courthouses, but that in some cases, especially rural areas, they may house a whole range of other county-level government functions.