• By Todd Luck
• Posted Friday, October 6, 2023

Ribbon Cutting for new Forsyth County Courthouse to be held Thursday

The ribbon cutting for the new Forsyth County Courthouse, located at 175 North Chestnut St, will be held on Thursday, Oct. 12, from 10 a.m.-12 p.m.

The event will feature remarks from elected officials and stakeholders along with the opportunity to see the public areas inside of the courthouse before it opens on Oct. 23. Parking will be available in the parking lot across the street from the new courthouse.

The new courthouse, located next to the Forsyth County Government Center, will replace the aging Hall of Justice (HOJ) located on Main Street. The new courthouse has 6 floors with 18 courtrooms. It’s 250,678 square feet, larger than the HOJ’s 171,749 square feet.

The new courthouse’s features include:

• A single location on the first floor for most of the Clerk of Court’s services
• An easier to navigate layout for courtrooms
• Rooms for defendants to consult with their attorneys
• Space for the Public Defender’s offices that are currently housed in a separate building
• A secure tunnel for transferring inmates between the Courthouse and the Detention Center
• More parking, including a public lot across the street
• Separate transportation corridors for in-custody defendants, the general public, and courthouse personnel outside of the courtroom.
• A secure bridge to the Government Center that gives County Facilities staff quick access to the Courthouse

Samet Corporation and Balfour-Beatty are the construction managers of the project and CJMW Architecture is the architect.

This will be Forsyth County’s fifth courthouse since its founding. Forsyth County's first courthouse opened in 1849, and was designed by Francis Fries, the first chairman of the Forsyth County Commissioners. It was replaced with a new courthouse in 1897. A new courthouse was built once again in 1926, which has now been converted into downtown condos. The current Hall of Justice on North Main Street opened in 1974 and is 171,749 square feet with 14 courtrooms.