![Panorama of United States Supreme Court Building at Dusk](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Panorama_of_United_States_Supreme_Court_Building_at_Dusk.jpg)
A courthouse or court house is a building that is home to a local
court
A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance ...
of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
. In most other
English-speaking countries
The following is a list of English-speaking population by country, including information on both native speakers and second-language speakers.
List
* The European Union is a supranational union composed of 27 member states. The total Engl ...
, buildings which house courts of law are simply called "courts" or "court buildings". In most of continental Europe and former non-English-speaking European colonies, the equivalent term is a palace of justice (
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
: ''palais de justice'',
Italian: ''palazzo di giustizia'',
Portuguese: ''palácio da justiça'').
United States
![Chester County PA Courthouse](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Chester_County_PA_Courthouse.JPG)
In most
counties in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, the local
trial court
A trial court or court of first instance is a court having original jurisdiction, in which trials take place. Appeals from the decisions of trial courts are usually made by higher courts with the power of appellate review (appellate courts). Mos ...
s conduct their business in a centrally located courthouse. The courthouse may also house other county government offices, or the courthouse may consist of a designated part of a wider county government building or complex. The courthouse is usually located in the
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...
, although large metropolitan counties may have satellite or annex offices for their courts.
In some cases this building may be named in some way or its function divided as between a judicial building and administrative office building. For instance,
Philadelphia City Hall
Philadelphia City Hall is the seat of the municipal government of the City of Philadelphia. Built in the ornate Second Empire style, City Hall houses the chambers of the Philadelphia City Council and the offices of the Mayor of Philadelphia. It ...
is, as its name implies, the seat of the legislative and executive functions of the consolidated City and County of
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, but most of its floor space is devoted to the Civil Division of the Philadelphia
Court of Common Pleas.
Many judges also
officiate
An official is someone who holds an office (function or Mandate (politics), mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual Office, working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either th ...
at civil marriage ceremonies in their courthouse chambers. In some places, the courthouse also contains the main administrative office for the county government, or when a new courthouse is constructed, the former one will often be used for other local government offices. Either way, a typical courthouse will have one or more
courtroom
A courtroom is the enclosed space in which courts of law are held in front of a judge. A number of courtrooms, which may also be known as "courts", may be housed in a courthouse. In recent years, courtrooms have been equipped with audiovisual ...
s and a court clerk's office with a filing window where litigants may submit documents for
filing with the court.
Each
United States district court
The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...
also has a federally owned building that houses courtrooms, chambers and clerk's offices. Many federal judicial districts are further split into divisions, which may also have their own courthouses. However, sometimes divisional court facilities are located in buildings that also house other agencies or offices of the United States government; for instance, the
Mitchell H. Cohen United States Courthouse
The Mitchell H. Cohen United States Courthouse (1994) and the United States Post Office and Courthouse (1932) house the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey in Camden, New Jersey. The back-to-back buildings are joined by a s ...
in
Camden, New Jersey
Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 2020 ...
houses a
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...
branch as well as court facilities for the
District of New Jersey
The United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (in case citations, D.N.J.) is a federal court in the Third Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the ...
. Some branches of federal courts are even housed in rented office space in buildings housing commercial tenants (for instance, the
United States Bankruptcy Court for the
District of Delaware is located in an office building in Wilmington across the street from the main courthouse of the District Court).
The
United States District Court for the Eastern District of California has a courthouse in Yosemite to hear misdemeanors and petty crimes for
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park ( ) is an American national park in California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an ar ...
.
Meanwhile, most of the
United States courts of appeals
The United States courts of appeals are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal judiciary. The courts of appeals are divided into 11 numbered circuits that cover geographic areas of the United States and hear appeals fr ...
have space in the main courthouses of the federal district court covering the city in which they are seated.
The courthouse is part of the iconography of American life and is equivalent to the city hall as the symbol of the municipium in European
free cities. Courthouses are often shown in American
cinema (i.e. "
Peyton Place", "
Back to the Future", and "
My Cousin Vinny
''My Cousin Vinny'' is a 1992 American comedy film directed by Jonathan Lynn, and written by Dale Launer, who also produced with Paul Schiff. The film stars Joe Pesci, Ralph Macchio, Marisa Tomei, Mitchell Whitfield, Lane Smith, Bruce McGill, and ...
"). They range from small-town rural buildings with a few rooms to huge metropolitan courthouses that occupy large plots of land. The style of
American architecture used varies, with common styles including
federal
Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to:
Politics
General
*Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies
*Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...
,
Greek Revival
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...
,
neoclassicist
Neoclassicism (also spelled Neo-classicism) was a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassicism was ...
, and
modern
Modern may refer to:
History
* Modern history
** Early Modern period
** Late Modern period
*** 18th century
*** 19th century
*** 20th century
** Contemporary history
* Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century
Phil ...
.
Security
Due to concerns over potential violence, many courthouses in American cities often have security checkpoints where all incoming persons are searched for weapons, normally through the use of an X-ray machine for all bags and a walk-through metal detector, much like those found at airports.
For example, the Los Angeles Superior Court added such checkpoints to all entrances to its main courthouse in
Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) contains the central business district of Los Angeles. In addition, it contains a diverse residential area of some 85,000 people, and covers . A 2013 study found that the district is home to over 500,000 jobs. It is ...
after a woman was shot and killed by her ex-husband in open court in September 1995.
The
Supreme Court of California
The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sacra ...
ruled in 2002 that Los Angeles County (which at the time was responsible for maintaining the courthouses) was not liable to her three children under the California Government Tort Claims Act.
After the
Oklahoma City bombing
The Oklahoma City bombing was a domestic terrorist truck bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, on April 19, 1995. Perpetrated by two anti-government extremists, Timothy McVeigh and Terry N ...
, the federal government proceeded to heavily fortify all large federal buildings, including many urban courthouses.
Some courthouses in areas with high levels of
violent crime have redundant layers of security. For example, when the
Supreme Court of California
The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sacra ...
hears oral argument in San Francisco or Los Angeles, visitors must pass through one security checkpoint to enter the building, and another to enter the courtroom.
File:Bulloch county courthouse statesboro georgia 2005.jpg, Bulloch County Courthouse, Statesboro, Georgia
File:Orange county court house vt.jpg, Orange County, Vermont courthouse
File:Lasvegascourthouse.jpg, Federal Courthouse, Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
File:CrookCountyCourthouse.jpg, The Crook County Courthouse
Crook County Courthouse is a courthouse located in Prineville, Oregon, United States. The present courthouse, built in 1909, replaced an earlier courthouse built in 1889. In November 2021, voters of Crook County, Oregon approved a bond measure t ...
in Prineville, Oregon
File:DeKalb County IN Court House.jpg, DeKalb County Court House, Auburn, Indiana
File:CabellCountyWVCH.jpg, Cabell County Court House in Huntington, West Virginia
Huntington is a city in Cabell and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is the county seat of Cabell County, and the largest city in the Huntington–Ashland metropolitan area, sometimes referred to as the Tri-State Area. A h ...
File:Side view of Lowndes County Courthouse.JPG, Lowndes County Courthouse in Valdosta, Georgia
File:Allegheny County Courthouse in 2016.jpg, Allegheny County Courthouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
File:Avery County Courthouse in Newland.jpg, Courthouse in Newland, North Carolina
Newland is a town in Avery County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 698 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Avery County.
History
Before its founding, the area was known as "Old Fields of Toe". It was an early muster gro ...
File:Moynihan-courthouse.jpg, Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse
The Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse is a courthouse at 500 Pearl Street (Manhattan), Pearl Street, along Foley Square, in the Civic Center, Manhattan, Civic Center neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The 27-story co ...
in New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
is an example of a postmodern
Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by skepticism toward the " grand narratives" of moderni ...
high-rise courthouse
File:San Francisco County Superior Courthouse.png, San Francisco County Superior Courthouse located in the San Francisco Civic Center. An example of contextual post-modernism.
Canada
![Philadelphia city hall](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/Philadelphia_City_Hall.jpg)
In
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
each municipality constructs its own courthouse, or several in the case of large cities. In smaller communities the court is in the same building as the
city hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
and other municipal offices. In the past many courthouses also included the local prison.
One well-known court house in Canada is the
Romanesque Revival (Neo-Romanesque)
Old City Hall Old City Hall may refer to:
Asia
In Hong Kong
* Old City Hall (Hong Kong)
Europe
In Croatia
*Old City Hall (Zagreb)
In Denmark
* Old City Hall (1479–1728), in Copenhagen
* Old City Hall (1728–1795), in Copenhagen
* Old City Hall (Aalborg)
...
in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
. Designed by
E.J. Lennox
Edward James Lennox (September 12, 1854 – April 15, 1933) was a Toronto-based architect who designed several of the city's most notable landmarks in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, including Old City Hall and Casa Loma. He d ...
, Old City Hall was completed in 1899 and has been functioning as a municipal building ever since. It was originally constructed to facilitate Toronto's City Council, legal and municipal offices and the city's courts however following the construction of the fourth
city hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
(adjacent to the third, on Queen Street) the building's purpose was limited to being solely a courthouse for the
Ontario Court of Justice
The Ontario Court of Justice is the provincial court of record for the Canadian province of Ontario. The court sits at more than 200 locations across the province and oversees matters relating to family law, criminal law, and provincial offences. ...
.
This building can be described as Romanesque Revival due to multiple characteristics it shares with Romanesque architecture (despite being constructed seven centuries later in a completely different continent). These characteristics include the materiality in terms of large stone construction, the repetitive rhythmic use of windows containing various sized arches and
barrel vaults
A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are ...
directing attention towards them, decorated
spandrels
A spandrel is a roughly triangular space, usually found in pairs, between the top of an arch and a rectangular frame; between the tops of two adjacent arches or one of the four spaces between a circle within a square. They are frequently fill ...
(wall section connecting arches) and the inclusion of gabled walls (pointed sections). Old City Hall has been designated a National Historical Site since 1989.
Image:Supreme Court of Canada, Ottawa.jpg, The Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...
in Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
Image:Kings County Museum.JPG, Kings County Courthouse, Kentville, Nova Scotia
Image:Halifax Court House.JPG, Halifax Court House in Halifax, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
Image:Frontenac County Court House (2010-Apr-12).jpg, Frontenac County Court House, Kingston, Ontario
Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between Toro ...
, 1858
Image:Vancouver - law courts 01.jpg, Law Courts (Vancouver)
The Law Courts building is part of the landmark Robson Square complex in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was designed by renowned Canadian architect Arthur Erickson. The Law Courts building occupies the southern block of the ...
, British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
, 1980
See also
*
Courts of England and Wales
*
List of courthouses
This is a list of notable courthouses. These are buildings that have primarily been used to host a court. In some countries, "courthouse" is not the term used, instead the term for the building is simply "court". Courthouses have often been desi ...
References
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