Kern County

New East County Courthouse

Project Info

The Superior Court of California, County of Kern, New East County Courthouse project provides a new three-courtroom courthouse of approximately 26,000 square feet. The project will require acquisition of a site of approximately 3.6 acres located in the southeast area of the county. It includes secure parking for judicial officers and surface parking spaces for the public, with solar power generation capability. It will replace and consolidate the court’s operations and calendars currently in three existing Mojave court facilities. The project will use the Design-Build delivery method.

Background

The Superior Court of Kern County occupies 16 facilities to provide service countywide through four divisions (Metro, North, East, and South) across six communities (Bakersfield, Mojave, Ridgecrest, Delano, Shafter, and Lamont). The Metro Division in Bakersfield provides full-service operations, while the other divisions offer most case types with exception of certain criminal and probate case matters.

The new courthouse project will consolidate the superior court’s operations and calendars in three county-owned Mojave court facilities (main courthouse, county administration building, and superior court modular), which are among the court’s East Division facilities serving eastern Kern County. Each facility houses a single courtroom, and amongst all three, the court offers all case types except for juvenile and probate. These facilities are out of compliance with regulatory safety, seismic, accessibility codes, and Judicial Council space standards. Square footage constraints have resulted in insufficient space for security screening and lobby waiting areas, lack of jury assembly and jury deliberation space, overcrowding of public and staff areas, and no separate paths of circulation for in-custody defendants from the public and judges and staff.

For this project, acquisition of a site of approximately 3.6 acres is required in the southeast area of the county.

The New East County Courthouse will accomplish the following needed improvements to the superior court and enhance its ability to serve the public:

  • Provide a modern, accessible, safe, and efficient courthouse to serve most of the eastern county communities.
  • Enhance the public’s access to justice by consolidating court operations and services, relieving the current space shortfall, increasing security, and replacing the court’s space in an inadequate and obsolete buildings.
  • Realize court operational efficiencies from improved space adjacencies through consolidation of operations and services for improved public service.
  • Remove the existing Mojave Main Courthouse from service, which is rated as a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) P-154 High-Risk, seismically deficient building.
  • Provide adequate space not currently available due to space shortfall in the existing court facilities, including family court services, jury assembly and deliberation, self-help center, attorney-client meetings, clerk’s office, and circulation to all courtrooms for the public, judges, and staff separate from in-custody defendants.
  • Avoid substantial deferred maintenance expenditure.

This project is in the Immediate Need priority group and consequently is one of the highest priority trial court capital-outlay projects for the judicial branch.

Schedule

This project is currently in the Acquisition phase.

Construction is estimated to begin in February 2032 and complete in September 2033.

On October 20, 2026, a community engagement meeting will be held at the Mojave Courthouse to introduce the project and invite suggestions on its siting. The meeting will take place from 5:30–6:30 p.m. in the Division B Courtroom of the Mojave Courthouse located at 1773 Highway 58, Mojave, CA, 93501.

Project Advisory Group

  • Hon. John W. Lua, Presiding Judge, Superior Court of Kern County
  • Hon. Christie Canales Norris, Assistant Presiding Judge, Superior Court of Kern County
  • Tara Leal, Court Executive Officer, Superior Court of Kern County
  • Randy Allenbaugh, Deputy Court Executive Officer of Facilities, Superior Court of Kern County
  • Michelle Burns Lusich, Chief General Services Officer, County of Kern
  • Joel Swanson, Chief Deputy, Kern County Sheriff’s Office