Grand Forks County

Dedication Ceremony

Grand Forks County was created by the 1872 - 1873 territorial legislature. The county was named for the then-village of Grand Forks, which itself was named for it's location at the junction of the Red Lake River with the Red River of the North. Government was organized, with Commissioners designated in 1873 and, although initiated, organization was not completed until 1875.

The election for the first Courthouse was held May 8, 1879, with a majority approving bonds of $10,000 for construction. The election for the new Courthouse was held November 5, 1912, and approved for bonds of $200,000. Additional Space was badly needed, and in 1960 a substantial addition became a reality. The West Wing included a jury courtroom, with Court Administration offices, sheriff's quarters and a County Jail.

Built in 1913, time has passed whereas this grand building needed a complete upgrade to carry it's functionality well into the 21st century. No longer could minor repairs be made to important components such as the mechanical, electrical and plumbing. In the 1990's, the County Commission set in motion a plan to completely upgrade the Courthouse. Unfortunately, the project would be delayed due to the flood of 1997. Although water came within one step of the main floor of the Courthouse, other county buildings were severely damaged and all efforts were placed into the construction of the new County Office Building.

In 2002 the County Commission bonded $2.8 million and combined this bond measure with other construction funds and grants to initiate a $3.2 million dollar project to totally refurbish the Courthouse. Although little change is noticed in the common area, major upgrades were completed to hardware components. Some items of interest are:

1. In the common areas, the green paint is a match to the original color. This green color brings out the beautiful colors of the marble and the stained glass in the dome.

2. Court Administration, Civil and Criminal District Court are now located on the first floor. Prior to construction, these offices were spread out over all three floors.

3. The States Attorney moved from the first floor to the second floor, where the Auditor and Treasurer were housed until 1995.

4. The creation of a new large courtroom was completed on the north side of the third floor. A large courtroom used to exist on the south side of the third floor but was divided into two courtrooms by a previous project. This large courtroom is a welcome addition to the Courthouse.

5. A courtroom on the second floor was enlarged and almost doubled in size. the new third floor courtroom and the expanded second floor courtrooms have new benches, whose facades mirror the benches as they were in 1913.

6. Completely new heating, cooling, electrical, phone systems, plumbing and cabling throughout the building. Our cabling is designed to support interactive television. In the future we hope to utilize this technology.

7. New ADA bathrooms were added to all three floors.

8. Additional attorney and client conference rooms added to the second and third floors.

9. A new elevator and lift providing ADA access to all three floors.

10. Expansion of the Juvenile Detention Center. This expansion provides seven new beds, with additional expansion space of up to 35 total beds. Also, this addition to the Correctional Center houses the new HVAC systems for the first and second floor of the courthouse, with space to accommodate new boilers.

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