Community members attend an open house for the new Specialty Courtroom that was constructed on the third floor of the courthouse.
The Carson City courthouse now officially has a fifth courtroom.
Courts Administrator Max Cortes said the new courtroom, down the hall from the two existing district court courtrooms, will handle everything from small claims cases to cases in which one of the other judges in the building has removed himself because of a conflict.
That means the two district judges and two justices of the peace won’t have to cancel other court activities to make room for a case in which they have a conflict.
In addition, the new courtroom will be available for matters before the juvenile special master that involve temporary protective orders.
She said those cases “can get volatile,” and there’s better security at the courthouse than in the juvenile center on East Fifth Street. In addition, the courthouse has better ADA access for the disabled.
Cortes said the space for the added courtroom was included when the courthouse was built 14 years ago but there was never the money to finish the space.
The project costs a total of $174,000 but she said none of it came from the city General Fund. A Supreme Court grant paid for $30,000 of the cost. The district and JP courts split the rest of the cost — $72,000 apiece.
Cortes said the money came from court assessments.