Duval County Courthouse Program

The $350 million Duval County Courthouse program included three elements: a new Duval County Courthouse, the new State Attorney's Office, and the Public Defender's Office.

The Public Defender's Office assumed occupancy of the Jake Godbold Building, located at 407 N. Laura Street, the week of October 17, 2011.

The new Duval County Courthouse opened on June 8, 2012.  It is located at 501 W. Adams Street.  For information about court operations, please click here to be directed to the Duval County Clerk of Courts.

The State Attorney's Office occupies the former Federal Courthouse at 311 W. Monroe Street.  The historic building was renovated and opened to the public on March 30, 2015.

TOTAL PROGRAM BUDGET:

The entire courthouse program budget is set by ordinance at $350 million. This figure includes $64.3 million spent to-date on property acquisition, utility relocation, and previous project efforts.

The budget covers expenditures for the unified court facility, renovations to the Old Federal Courthouse for the State Attorney's Office, and office space for the Public Defender.

Funding Sources:

Better Jacksonville Plan: $211 million
($190 million plus $21 million from 'vertical contigency')

Court Facilities Trust Fund: $811,000

Court Documents Facility: $3,397,000

Traffic Fine Surcharge: $48,292,000

COJ Capital Project Funding: $86.5 million

PROJECT HISTORY:

Duval County opened its previous courthouse on East Bay Street over 50 years ago, in a time before consolidation and when the entire county's population was just over 450,000. It was only the fourth courthouse in the county's 175-year history.

In 2000, when the Better Jacksonville Plan passed, Duval County's population had swelled to over three-quarters of a million people. A county's judicial requirements directly correspond to its population, so while the number of people using the courthouse had grown significantly, the facility itself had not.

The original Better Jacksonville Plan work program earmarked $190 million for a courthouse project. That figure increased by $21 million through funding from the BJP Vertical Contingency line item in the original work program.  The increase was needed because the plan for the "courthouse project" changed significantly between the time the Plan's budgets were created for the referendum to the time voters approved the Plan.

The initial effort to construct the courthouse was stopped in 2003. The city elected to pursue a design/build approach, and ultimately contracted with Turner Construction/KBJ Architects in 2008 to complete the project.  The new county courthouse opened to the public on June 8, 2012.

COURTHOUSE ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW COMMITTEE:

The CARC and its membership were established in Section 5 of Ordinance 2004-1339 and has been carried forward in the new courthouse legislation, 2007-401.  The CARC was dissolved following the opening of the new facility.

11-16-07 CARC PowerPoint Presentation

11-16-07 CARC Meeting Minutes

5-21-09 CARC PowerPoint Presentation

5-21-09 CARC Meeting Minutes

1-21-10 CARC Pedestrian Bridge Presentation

1-21-10 CARC Meeting Minutes

8-13-10 CARC Meeting Minutes

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