Courthouse Replacement Project

There are three main reasons for building a new courthouse: safety, delays in justice, and capacity.

• Significant safety concerns exist in today’s courthouse as a result of structural seismic deficiencies and failing building systems. The building will become uninhabitable in a sudden, unpredictable yet inevitable seismic event. Mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems are functionally obsolete and in some cases beyond repair.  
• The current courthouse was built in the 1930s and was designed with a single courtroom and a number of county offices. Today, the courthouse has been retrofitted to contain 11 courtrooms. Our existing caseload supports the need for 14 courtrooms, which the state judicial department has been willing to staff, however there is simply no room for further expansion. This gap between space availability and judicial needs leads to delays in justice.
• Capacity needs include separate and improved building circulation zones for in-custody defendants, judicial staff and the public so that these populations do not interact or come into close contact within the courthouse. Today, courthouse functions are spread among two separate buildings and parking access for courthouse staff, visitors and jury members is constrained and problematic.  

The current plan allows for a 215,000 square foot courthouse that features 16 courtrooms, 20 judicial chambers, adequate space for the District Attorney’s Office, public/staff screening areas, administrative space, jury assembly spaces, secure loading/staging spaces, enhanced prisoner transfer facilities, Grand Jury space, safe corridors for courthouse users, and secure holding cells for violent offenders.

Plus, by moving to the Red Soils Campus, courthouse users will now only be steps away from departments such as: Social Services; Behavioral Health; Public Health; Juvenile; Veterans Services; and the Family Justice Center. This means that people don’t have to drive all over town to access the various functions of county government, and proximity will improve efficiency and collaboration between these different public service agencies.

No. Simply put, we need more space for enough judges and courtrooms – right now we have enough of a population for 3 additional judges to handle, but we have no space for them or courtrooms, which leads to serious delays in justice.

A new courthouse will:

• Improve safety for visitors, employees, jurors, and service providers and advocates
• Eliminate unnecessary risks where jurors, judges, and victims are within arm’s reach of one another, both in courtrooms and in hallways
• Meet capacity needs for our current population and accommodate 30 years of projected growth
• Improve parking and pedestrian access for ADA visitors, social service providers, and advocates
• Improve proximity to co-located services, such as social services, behavioral health, public health, juvenile services, and more
• Resolve seismic concerns with a modern facility and a new location
• Return the existing courthouse building to the market, where private development can restore and rehabilitate the space for Oregon City’s historic downtown main street

We’re at the end of the planning phase, during which we’ve determined our future needs. We’ve also begun our initial relocating of some county operations to accommodate a new courthouse on our Red Soils campus.

With the recent state funding, the next phase is Design and Pre-Construction, which we estimate will take 18 months.

Last, we’ll move into the Construction and Relocation phase, which should take another three years or so to complete.

We anticipate the Grand Opening to occur in late 2023. Please see our Construction Schedule for more.

There are two types of Juvenile Court – delinquency and dependency. The new courthouse will hold the dependency portion, which is currently operated out of the existing courthouse.

Delinquency is operated from the Juvenile building on the Red Soils Campus (in close proximity to the new courthouse) and will remain there.

The county intends to build a courthouse that can adequately handle projected needs for the next 50 years and is compliant with features defined by the Oregon Judicial Department, who is funding 50% of the building cost. The county will want the new courthouse to meet the county’s green building policy guidelines. The size of the building and these requirements will influence the building’s ultimate cost to design, construct, operate and maintain. Our priorities will focus on safety, sustainability, and meeting the current and future needs of our growing community.

Yes! Rather than being located in downtown Oregon City with extremely limited parking options, the new courthouse will have great access to public transit and ample parking. The county will comply with all Oregon City parking requirements for the campus.

The county does not have any current plans to re-purpose the existing courthouse for future county use. If that remains the case, the current courthouse will become surplus property and the likely scenario is that the county would seek a buyer willing to retain, modernize and occupy the building for a new use that is compatible with the interests of the City of Oregon City and historic downtown. 

The total courthouse project cost will be funded equally by the state and the county with each contributing 50% of the project costs.  

The state has budgeted $33 million for project planning, design and early stage construction. These funds are made available to the county on a reimbursement basis after the county provides the initial funds from local sources.  

Clackamas County is committed to utilizing these funds provided by the state solely for use in constructing a new county courthouse, and is working hard to identify the local share of the funding necessary to access these state funds. Without the partnership from the state, it would be near impossible for the county to build a new courthouse as evidenced by multiple failed efforts dating back to the 1960s when the current courthouse was first deemed obsolete.

Many revenue sources that come to Clackamas County are mandated to use specific ways. For example, because road funds can only come from dedicated road funding sources – like gas taxes and vehicle registration fees – the funding can only be used on roads.