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Imperial County, New El Centro Courthouse

The Superior Court of California, County of Imperial - New El Centro Courthouse project provides a new four-courtroom courthouse, including support spaces and 132 surface parking spaces for public, juror, and staff. The project consolidates court operations from two facilities and will relieve the current space shortfall, increase security, and replace inadequate and obsolete buildings in Imperial County. The site, which is located in the City of El Centro is approximately 3.57 acres. The project will utilize a Construction Manager at Risk (CMR) delivery method.

Gross Square Footage: 46,810
Total Courtrooms: 4
Current Authorized Project Budget: $73,431,000
Architectural/Engineering Firm: Safdie Rabines Architects
Construction Management Agency: Vanir Construction Management, Inc.
Construction Manager at Risk: Nielsen Construction California
Fund: Senate Bill 1407/General Fund

The Superior Court of California, Imperial County, provides criminal court functions from two facilities: the historic Imperial County Courthouse in El Centro and a branch courthouse in Brawley. The separation of criminal calendars in two locations creates operational inefficiencies and is a detriment to the administration of justice.

The main courthouse is the historic Imperial County Courthouse, built in 1923. Four of its seven courtrooms are dedicated to criminal calendars. The courthouse in Brawley hosts criminal proceedings when courtrooms are unavailable in the historic courthouse, which is often. In both facilities, the courtrooms are undersized and overcrowded, and have life safety, security, and accessibly deficiencies.

This project will provide a new, four-courtroom facility that will consolidate all criminal court functions in one location. The Imperial County Courthouse will continue to hear civil, family, small claims, and traffic cases. The Brawley courthouse will be closed.

The approximately 54,000 square-foot courthouse will be built on a 3.6-acre site located on Wake Avenue between Merrill Center Drive and Thomas Drive, midway between the historic courthouse and juvenile hall.