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LAKEPORT, Calif. — The effort to bring a new courthouse to Lake County had its milestone moment last week when state and court officials gathered to mark the groundbreaking for the new Lakeport court facility.
The new building will be located at 675 Lakeport Blvd., and will be three times the size of the current court facility, located on the fourth floor of the Lake County Courthouse at 255 N. Forbes St. in Lakeport.
Judge Andrew Blum, who opened the brief groundbreaking ceremony, was joined by colleagues Michael Lunas and Shanda Harry, and Commissioner John Langan. Judge J. David Markham was out of state.
The $83.8 million project is the work of the Judicial Council of California.
Pella McCormick, the Judicial Council’s director of facilities, thanked everyone for patiently waiting many years for the groundbreaking event.
She said the Judicial Council’s facilities program’s mission is working together to provide access to justice for all Californians.
McCormick said the new project will replace two antiquated facilities, and will provide four courtrooms and 46,000 square feet of space on a 5.7-acre site that will have parking for the public, jurors and court staff.
The project originally was conceptualized in the early 2000s. Then, in 2008, SB 1407 provided $5 billion in bond funding for new and renovated courthouses using court fees, penalties and assessments, McCormick said.
Lakeport’s courthouse was recognized then as one of most critically needed projects statewide, she added.
“In the intervening years, the project was started and stopped a couple of times,” McCormick said.
After several years’ delay, the 2021-22 state budget act included $83.8 million for the Lakeport courthouse project, including design and construction, she said.
McCormick said the new building will be beautiful, will relieve the current space shortfall, increase security, and provide a safe and efficient courthouse. It also will meet regulatory safety, seismic code and Judicial Council space standards.
She said it will have adequate space for a self-help center, jury assembly, attorney-client waiting rooms and separate secure hallways for in-custody defendants.
This project is a collaboration that McCormick said involved county and city partners over the course of many years. The Judicial Council worked closely with the Lake County Superior Court and an advisory group to determine the site.
“The new courthouse will be designed to address energy use and sustainability,” McCormick said, noting it will have water efficient landscaping and irrigation, LED lighting and solar arrays over the parking.
The project also will provide economic benefits to Lake County. McCormick said they made outreach to local subcontractors, and all qualified subcontractors were considered for work on the building.
Other benefits include improving in-custody transportation and detention, a state-of-the-art security system and improved public access to court services.
McCormick thanked Lake County’s judges, Court Executive Officer Krista LeVier, Judicial Council staff and the design-build team.
She said Lake County is an instrumental component of the state's history and economy.
“The new Lakeport courthouse will increase court efficiencies and improve access to justice for the people of the county for many decades to come,” McCormick said.
Judge Blum said the event was a long time coming, and had been in the works for 16 years.
“There were many times when we thought we would never get to this point today, so today is a real milestone,” Blum said.
He recognized retired Judge Art Mann, the only retired judge at the event, who was the presiding judge when the process started in 2008.
Blum also thanked retired judges Stephen Hedstrom, David Herrick and Rick Martin, all of whom put in a lot of effort into getting a new courthouse.
“This is not just a new building for the courts. It is a far better facility for the people of Lake County who use court services,” Blum said.
“Our current courthouse is officially the worst courthouse in the entire state of California. Yes, there is an official list, and we’re No. 1. So we do need a new courthouse,” Blum added.
Blum said he’d traveled to some of the new courthouses around California, finding them beautiful and well equipped.
“It’s time the people of Lake County had one of those facilities also,” he said.
Blum said the current courthouse on Forbes Street was built in the 1960s, when the county’s
population and caseloads were much smaller.
The new courthouse will be triple the size of the current facility, will have an on-site self-help center to help people file paperwork and there will be a comfortable place for jurors to wait before being called for service, as opposed to having to stand out in the hallway, Blum explained.
The building process is expected to take about two years, so Blum said the grand opening can be expected in 2026.
Before he and others picked up the ceremonial shovels for the groundbreaking, Blum recognized LeVier’s work.
“She has put more time into this project than the rest of us combined,” he said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
