New Sonoma County Hall of Justice Dedicated in California

The new 167,000-square-foot Sonoma County Hall of Justice was officially dedicated May 29 and will commence operations this summer. | Photo Credit: Judicial Branch of California

• Sonoma County officials and California Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero dedicated the new Hall of Justice in Santa Rosa on May 29.
• The six-story courthouse includes 15 courtrooms and 167,000 square feet and has achieved LEED Silver certification.
• The facility is designed to consolidate criminal, traffic, juvenile dependency and family court functions now split between the existing Hall of Justice and the Main Adult Detention Facility.
• The $231.7 million project was designed by STUDIOpractice Architects, with construction manager at-risk Rudolph & Sletten and construction management agency AECOM.

SANTA ROSA, Calif. — Sonoma County’s new Hall of Justice was formally dedicated May 29, marking a major milestone for a long-planned courthouse project intended to centralize key court operations in Santa Rosa.

The new courthouse is expected to open for business this summer, according to California Courts newsroom coverage of the dedication. Once fully operational, the facility will replace court-occupied space in the existing Sonoma County Hall of Justice and the attached Main Adult Detention Facility, consolidating services in a modern high-rise building designed to improve safety, accessibility and operational efficiency.

Project information from the Judicial Branch of California identifies the new Hall of Justice as a six-story building with a basement level, totaling 167,000 square feet and 15 new courtrooms. The facility is intended to bring together criminal, traffic, juvenile dependency and family court proceedings for the county, while also housing family court mediation, probate investigative services and enhanced drug court support.

The courthouse is meant to address longstanding overcrowding, physical deficiencies, accessibility limitations and security concerns tied to the county’s older court facilities, parts of which date to 1965. The new facility has achieved LEED Silver status, as designated by the U.S. Green Building Council.

The new facility sits on the site of the Sonoma County Administration Center campus, east of the existing Hall of Justice and on the location of the former jail facility.

State project records list STUDIOpractice Architects — formerly Richard Meier & Partners Architects LLP — as the architectural and engineering firm, Rudolph & Sletten Inc. as construction manager at risk, and AECOM as construction management agency. The authorized project budget is listed at $231.7 million, funded through Senate Bill 1407 and the state General Fund.

The dedication ceremony featured California Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero, who called the courthouse a new symbol of justice for the residents of Sonoma County, alongside local judges, court leaders and Judicial Council representatives. The public debut included a ribbon-cutting and tours of the courthouse, underscoring the transition from construction to operations.

This article is based on reporting originally published by California Courts Newsroom and project information published by the Judicial Branch of California.