Duval County Courthouse, County courthouse in Downtown Jacksonville, United States
The Duval County Courthouse is a county courthouse in Downtown Jacksonville, built in a postmodern style, that brings together several courtrooms and judicial offices in one complex. The building also has public green spaces and secured passages that keep court operations running smoothly.
The site has housed Duval County's courts since the 19th century, with earlier buildings lost to the Civil War and then to the major fire that swept Jacksonville in 1901. The current structure, opened in 2012, was the city's answer to decades of changing needs after those losses.
The courthouse lawn is a public green space on the site, open to anyone in Downtown Jacksonville. The building itself is named for Duval County, created on August 12, 1822, out of St. Johns County. Courtrooms and judges from both the Duval County and Fourth Judicial Circuit Courts work under its roof.
The courthouse sits in Downtown Jacksonville and is easy to reach on foot from nearby streets, with parking available close by. Those who want to attend a hearing should plan to arrive early, since access to some courtrooms depends on the nature of the case.
The 800,000-square-foot complex was approved by the Jacksonville City Council in April 2008 at a budget of $350 million, after an earlier design by Cannon Design was scrapped in 2004 with $64.3 million already spent on land, utilities and planning. Turner Construction, working with KBJ Architects, built it on the LaVilla site.
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