Riverside County, New Indio Juvenile and Family Courthouse

Riverside County, New Indio Juvenile and Family Courthouse

The proposed project is a new Indio Juvenile and Family Courthouse for the Superior Court of California, County of Riverside. The project provides a five-courtroom facility. The new Courthouse will replace a two-courtroom function from the existing Juvenile Court, absorb two-courtrooms from family division at existing Larson Justice Center, and provide one new judgeship. Spaces are included for court administration, court clerk, court security operations, holding, and building support space. Site support will include surface parking for court staff and visitors and a secure sallyport for in-custody transport. The proposed building will be approximately 53,255 building gross square feet (BGSF) with surface parking for 150 cars and has eight secure judges’ parking spaces.

Gross Square Footage: 53,255
Total Courtrooms: 5
Current Authorized Project Budget: $80,874,000
Architectural/Engineering Firm: CO Architects
Construction Management Agency: Parsons Corporation
Construction Manager at Risk: Rudolph and Sletten, Inc.
Fund: Senate Bill 1407/General Fund

The Superior Court of California, County of Riverside has 31 facilities in three regions: Western Region, Mid-County Region, and the Desert Region. Each region has a main courthouse or set of courthouses, serving as the main criminal and civil courthouse for that region.

Family and juvenile court services are currently provided in Indio at the Juvenile Court and Larson Justice Center, which is the main courthouse for the Desert Region. These facilities poorly serve the growing needs of the superior court, and the lack of consolidated facilities exacerbates the functional problems of the buildings. This project will provide a new five-courtroom facility to consolidate all family court and juvenile court functions in the Desert Region.

The Juvenile Courthouse was constructed in 1955. This courthouse has two small courtrooms and is co-located with the county juvenile detention facility. The juvenile court is currently unsafe, substandard in size, and overcrowded. It has numerous deficiencies that create critical security concerns, including substandard security screening equipment due to lack of space; unsecured judicial parking; an in-custody waiting area located in a corridor used by judicial officers and staff; and a non-secure room used for adult holding.

The Larson Justice Center was constructed in 1997, and family law is conducted in 2 of its 12 courtrooms. These two courtrooms will be combined with the juvenile courtrooms to consolidate current family and juvenile operations, freeing up space to accommodate two new judgeships. This project will also provide one additional courtroom to support one new judgeship.
In January 2011, the Judicial Council received approval from the State Public Works Board to acquire four acres adjacent to juvenile hall in Indio, between Oasis Street and Avenue 48, for the new courthouse. The state will also acquire the county’s interest in the existing courthouse, which will be demolished after construction of the new building.