Riverside County, New Menifee Justice Center

Riverside County, New Menifee Justice Center

The new Menifee Justice Center will replace an existing five courtroom courthouse and provide space for four new judicial officers. Court services in the new building will support family, traffic and civil case calendars. The new building will include family law mediation, self-help and jury services; very minimal in-custody detention will be provided. This three-story court building, approximately 85,010 building gross square feet will be built the City of Menifee, Riverside County. The site is within a new 'town-center development', the building will have a cement plaster & glass exterior with on-site surface parking lots.

Gross Square Footage: 85,010

Total Courtrooms: 9

Current Authorized Project Budget: $95,253,000

Architectural/Engineering Firm: Perkins + Will – Los Angeles

Construction Management Agency: Vanir Construction Management, Inc.

Construction Manager at Risk: Clark Construction Group, LLC

Fund: Senate Bill 1407/General Fund

The Superior Court of Riverside County provides limited court services to residents of the historically fast-growing mid-Riverside County at the five-courtroom Hemet Courthouse. This courthouse, built in 1969, has since undergone two additions.

The Hemet courthouse handles civil, small claims, family law, probate, and traffic cases, but not criminal trials, which are currently handled in Murrieta, more than 20 miles away, or in courthouses even further away. The current courthouse is overcrowded, substandard in size, and physically deficient, and the property surrounding it is too small to accommodate further additions or renovations.

The project will create a full-service courthouse to replace the current facility, securely accommodate criminal trials, and provide space for four new judgeships. The project will also enable the court to provide basic services currently not possible due to space restrictions, such as jury assembly and deliberation rooms, an adequately sized self-help center, a children's waiting room, and attorney interview/witness waiting rooms.

In June 2015, the State Public Works Board approved a site in Menifee for the new courthouse. The new courthouse will be located on 3.8 acres in the Menifee Town Center and will be a part of the City’s envisioned future government center.

This project is currently in the construction phase. Construction began in December 2021 and is estimated to complete in March 2024.

Figure 1. View from North-East

Figure 2. Courtroom View

Figure 3. Jury Assembly

Figure 4. Concourse view