New $207.5 Million John D. Allen Judicial Center Opens in Georgia

The John D. Allen Judicial Center in Columbus, Ga., combines a new court tower with renovated wings, with new 13 courtrooms and space for four additional courtrooms. | Photo Credit: Columbus Consolidated Government 

• Columbus, Ga., marked the opening of the $207.5 million, 342,000-square-foot judicial center on Oct. 30. 
• The facility has 13 courtrooms, with shell space for four more without displacing offices. 
• Features include courtroom video capabilities, digital docket displays and underground employee parking. 
• The SLAM Collaborative and Barnes Gibson Partners handled architecture; Gilbane Building Company and Freeman & Associates led construction. 

COLUMBUS, Ga. — Officials in Columbus, Ga., celebrated the opening of the $207.5 million John D. Allen Judicial Center on Oct. 30, dedicating a 342,000-square-foot complex with capacity for future courtroom expansion. 

According to reporting from the Ledger-Enquirer, the new facility includes 13 courtrooms and shell space for four additional courtrooms without displacing offices. It will accommodate Muscogee County’s Municipal, Magistrate, Superior, State, Probate and Juvenile courts, along with the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit district attorney’s office. 

Construction began in December 2023, with Gilbane Building Company and Freeman & Associates serving as general contractor. The architect-of-record team paired The SLAM Collaborative with Barnes Gibson Partners. 

According to the newspaper’s July tour coverage, the eight-story building includes a basement, a new court tower, renovated wings and underground employee parking. A separate public entrance serves Accountability Courts and public defender offices in the West Wing. 

Courtroom technology includes monitors and speakers for jurors to review evidence, along with cameras capable of livestreaming proceedings and supporting Zoom hearings. Digital docket displays connect to the court management system. 

Superior and State Court clerks have 16 service windows and a waiting room. Plans also called for a numbered kiosk check-in system, a covered entrance and accessible parking near the front entrance. Visitors encounter security screening before reaching the lobby’s docket displays. 

A 1% special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST) approved by voters in 2021 financed $200 million of the project. The city’s general fund covered the remaining $7.5 million. 

During the July tour, Ryan Pruett, the city’s inspections and code director, explained that relocation from the existing Columbus Government Center will be phased, anticipating two to three months of overlapping operations. Demolition of the existing government center will follow once its occupants have been fully relocated. Pruett said officials will coordinate security with the sheriff while both buildings remained open. 

“We do have to operate both buildings simultaneously because we can’t snap our fingers and get all the occupants over here,” Pruett said, according to an article from the Ledger-Enquirer. 

The new center honors Judge John Allen, who died in February 2025 after serving on Recorder’s, State and Superior courts. The Columbus Council unanimously approved the naming in March 2025. 

“Our state and its judicial system owe Judge Allen an enormous debt,” Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Nels S.D. Peterson said at the dedication, according to an article from the Ledger-Enquirer. 

This article is based on Ledger-Enquirer reporting by Madeline Shapiro, updated Nov. 1, 2026, and earlier coverage by Brittany McGee, published July 24, 2026.