Two new courtrooms at the Deschutes County Circuit Court are nearly finished. And the overall completion of the new justice facility in downtown Bend is on track to meet its final completion date in August.
County facilities officials presented the monthly update on the courthouse expansion project at the Board of County Commissioners meeting March 30. The expansion project involves the construction of a new, three-story, 60,933 square-foot building on NW Bond Street and NW Greenwood Avenue that connects to the present courthouse, which is being renovated, as well. The addition will effectively double the courthouse’s footprint.
“Lots of scaffolding outside the building has come down,” says Eric Nielsen, the County’s capital improvement manager. “The site is looking a little more organized and complete than it did last week.”
Also completed — or nearly so — is the public lobby, a security desk and the public service counters. A staff breakroom has been equipped with appliances and restrooms have partitions.
The courthouse expansion project, which is 77% complete, has utilized about $37 million of its revised budget of $48.4 million, with $11.3 million remaining in its coffers, according to documents provided by officials.
Renovations to the existing courthouse building will be finished in July, according to Deschutes County Facilities Director Lee Randall. A temporary certificate of occupancy, which will allow State Court and Sheriff’s Office staff to move in, has been postponed by three weeks. A soft opening is planned for late April or early May, Randall said, adding that’s about a week later than previously expected. The ribbon cutting is slotted for some time in August.
Nielsen walked through a slideshow of the site work progress, noting the right-of-way improvements on NW Harriman Street and NW Greenwood Avenue. Sidewalks and concrete planters now wrap around the building, including vehicle barriers and crash-rated bollards. These measures are intended to beef up security at the new building’s entrance on NW Bond Street.
Construction on the courthouse began in Spring 2024; the courthouse needed more elbow room when the Oregon Judicial Department appointed two extra judges to the Deschutes County Circuit Court in 2022. That necessitated two additional sets of courtrooms, including jury deliberation rooms, judges’ chambers and support staff offices, according to the County.
Funding for the courthouse expansion came from $15 million from the Oregon Legislature, $5 million of the county’s federal American Rescue Plan Act allocation, $2 million from the Oregon Judicial Department and $20.5 million in county debt financing.
Deschutes County District Attorney Steve Gunnels told the Source that the two additional courtrooms will create more capacity for additional trials and other hearings, because each of the Circuit Court judges will have their own space.
“They will no longer have to share a courtroom with another judge, which has been a limitation on our ability to get cases tried,” Gunnels said.
This article appears in the Source April 2, 2026.
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