Officials break ground for courthouse in Menifee Town Center

Dignitaries celebrate the groundbreaking of the new courthouse, to be built in Menifee Town Center. (Staff photos)

By Doug Spoon, Editor

Riverside County officials broke ground Friday for a nine-courtroom, three-story Justice Center in Menifee.

The new courthouse will eventually become part of a civic center including a new City Hall in the middle of Menifee Town Center on Newport Road. It will give the region a larger, more modern facility for family law and civil cases than the five-courtroom Hemet facility, which it will replace.

According to the Riverside County court system website, "The current [Hemet] courthouse is overcrowded, substandard in size, and physically deficient, and the property surrounding it is too small to accommodate further additions or renovations." In addition to providing space for four new judges, the Menifee center will have space for jury assembly and deliberation rooms, an adequately sized self-help center, a children's waiting room, and attorney interview/witness waiting rooms.

Officials said there will be no criminal cases conducted at the Menifee site. Those will continue at the Murrieta Justice Center. A second new Riverside County courthouse will be built in Indio, where groundbreaking was also held on Friday.

"Public buildings we build should reflect our public values," said Presiding Judge John M. Monterosso (left), who welcomed the crowd to the construction site. "By investing in and building this courthouse in Menifee, the community shows its commitment to providing a forum to resolve disputes according to the law. The design of such buildings must reflect the serious and solemn nature of the work done within their walls.

"This will be the centerpiece of civic life in Southwest Riverside County."

The new courthouse will include over 85,000 square feet of space with on-site parking at its location south of the Krikorian theater complex and north of a residential area of Menifee Town Center. It is expected to be open in 2024 at a cost of $90.86 million.

Menifee Mayor Bill Zimmerman spoke of how the presence of the courthouse as part of a civic center is an appropriate anchor to Menifee Town Center, which is projected as the hub of the Menifee business community.

"About 10 years ago, some of our elected officials and community leaders recognized the economic benefits that a $90 million project like this would bring to our community," Zimmerman said. "It's also important as part of our of our civic campus. Menifee Town Center has other components along Newport Road such as retail and entertainment, plus residential to the south of this, but think of this as the hub. We also have our Central Park over there that has an amphitheater and some other things.

"Those leaders back then knew that this day would come. [Former City Council member] Darcy Kuenzi is here today. She and a group of community members went to Sacramento several years ago to speak about the importance of this."

State Assemblyman Kelly Seyarto was among the many dignitaries present at the groundbreaking ceremony.

"Being able to expand the courthouses so our judges can actually do their job is so important," Seyarto said. "The worst thing we can do is elect people to do their jobs and not give them the tools to do it. This gives them the tools in the right setting to mete out justice."

"The City of Menifee can be held up as role model for any city that wants to incorporate," said Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Hewitt. "To see what they've done in a short amount of time is incredible. Your city leaders have had the courage and forthrightness to go about this. Putting this courthouse in the center of your city is going to accomplish so much."

The Menifee Justice Center is being funded by the state's General Fund through Senate Bill 1407.

A design graphic shows the proposed look of the Menifee Justice Center.