Teton County doesn’t currently have any jury trials scheduled, but for the next two years attorneys, jurors and judges will hear cases in temporary trailers on East Simpson Avenue.
Demolition crews made short work of the longstanding federal and district courthouses this month, using a slew of excavators to tear through wood, concrete and steel.
“It was kind of like peeling back different layers of history,” said DPR Construction Project Manager John Seal. His team is preparing to pour the foundation for a new Justice Center this summer.
The building will have slightly more space than Jackon’s Target store. But before the town and county approved designs, some sort of remodel spent years in the public imagination, failing several rounds of public funding votes in 2008 and 2019. In 2024, judges, clerks, public attorneys and law officers launched a successful round of lobbying and educating and voters narrowly approved (by 25 votes) a 1% sales tax increase until the county collects $88 million. The project is estimated to cost $120. The county is paying the difference.
County officials say the new center will be more secure, energy efficient, and ADA accessible. It’s projected to take about two years to build.
Before rubble piled up, the public had the chance to bid on jury pews, paneling and other mementos from the historic courthouse which had anchored the corner of King Street and East Simpson Avenue for nearly 60 years.
“It will definitely be a different dynamic for that hole to be there, but then it will be replaced by something really cool,” Seal told KHOL.
Because the project is certified under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, program, most of the materials from the previous courthouses are being sorted and sent to recycling centers.
A centerpiece seal carved out of wood by the late Judge Terry Rogers was saved for the new Justice Center, a county employee said.
In the interim, most staff are working from temporary offices. The prosecuting team is sharing space with the sheriff’s deputies. District court has been reassembled into portable units, like mobile home trailers, next to the county administration building.
Staff are working on better signage so that visitors know where to go, said Deputy Clerk of District Court Karen Woodward. There is handicap and street parking and an ADA accessible ramp.
Despite the move, there’s been no disruption in operations, she said: “We’ve been business as usual.”
The new chambers are secured by the same bailiffs and security and are already hearing cases. While it’s a temporary downgrade to make space for the new center, Woodwards said the new space is “actually fairly nice.”
