UKIAH, CA., 5/16/26 — Crews are one year into construction on the new Mendocino County Superior Courthouse in Ukiah, which is on track so far to open in the summer of 2027.
Superior Court officials announced Thursday that the 82,000-square-foot, three-story courthouse being built on Perkins Street is expected to have its exterior completed by the end of this year.
Landscaping focusing on native species will begin in early 2027. Plus, a local horticulturist has been tasked with making new saplings from the rootstock of the 130-year-old magnolia trees in front of the current North State Street courthouse to bring the landmark trees to the new site. That won’t be until sometime after the courthouse opens, to give the saplings time to mature enough for planting.
The court said closer to the courthouse’s projected opening, solar panels will be installed over all 160 parking spots at the site, offering shaded parking while lowering energy use. Furnishings and technology equipment will go in as the summer 2027 ribbon-cutting goal approaches.
The waiting area for the clerk’s office in the new courthouse will feature a gallery display of Native artifacts and objects.
Also, the Mendocino County Museum is working to bring the historic murals painted in the current courthouse in the 1970s to the new courthouse using digital reproduction. In addition, a historic 1913 oil painting by Georgie Singley of a grove of redwood trees in Montgomery Woods — which inspired the exterior design of the new courthouse that will feature vertical panels representing redwood trees — will be displayed in the public lobby.
There is also a photography contest happening until July 31, with the winning photos to be displayed in the new courthouse.