Construction began in September 2023 on the Kootenai County Justice Building expansion, a $35 million project that would add 60,000 square feet of courtroom and office space to the existing facility on Garden Avenue in Coeur d’Alene.
The expansion was funded primarily through $22 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds allocated by the county commissioners. The project included three large courtrooms, chambers for judges, office space for the prosecuting attorney, security infrastructure, and holding cells.
County officials said the expansion was long overdue, noting that no new court space had been built since 2009 despite the county’s population growing by tens of thousands in the intervening years. The additional courtrooms were needed to accommodate more judges and reduce case backlogs.