“the cacoon like center which seems to provide privacy will attract homeless, drug deals and even possibly rapes or at the very least end up smelling like urine.”: I think your instincts are good. Perhaps the assumption is that the sheriff’s deputies with a view of the plaza would discourage it. I also wonder about how the structure would stand up to a hail storm.

1. The court house design appears as good as the best one in the metro area, which is Jefferson County’s Taj. It is superior to the Adams and Arapahoe County designs. The Adams County design has poor sight lines so it is hard for newbies like jurors and witnesses to find their way around. The Arapahoe County court house wasn’t designed for security and is generally cramped and a bit dismal. Castle Rock’s low rise court house is also a bit hard to navigate. Parking will be the only major downside in Denver although the new parking structure eases that.

2. The jail-court house tunnel connection is a plus absent from Jefferson County and Denver, creating a major public safety risk. The new Denver system of separate prisoner and public passageways is used successfully in Adams County and Jefferson County.

3. Terrorism was a central design concern in the new Alfred Araj Federal Courthouse between 19th and 20th Streets. It appears to be a secondary consideration in this design (or at least isn’t visibly such an obvious part of the design) and that’s notable.

4. This will make Denver more or less unique in Colorado in having separate court houses for civil and criminal cases. This could have a significant impact on the impression and sense of safety that litigants and other people involved in court cases (such as children involved in domestic relations, guardianship and juvenile cases), and people doing business with the City, get in the old Denver courthouse.

It will also almost inevitably create (or at least make more visible) a class divide. Middle class people will overwhelmingly have cases dealt with in the old courthouse or federal courthouse. Poor people’s cases will overwhelmingly be handled in the new courthouse. It will be interesting to see how the class divide impacts the feel of the buildings. Will the new courthouse experience a “public housing” effect? (It does, after all, increase the number of “public housing” residents downtown, and only the poor remain incarcerated in jail while awaiting trial.)

5. The civil/criminal divide will impact jurors a great deal. Prospective jurors will overwhelmingly be going to the new courthouse in Denver rather than the old one. This is because jury trials are overwhelmingly used in criminal cases. About 98% of county court juries are in criminal or quasi-criminal cases (county court level handles both misdemeanors and small claims). In 2009, 116 out of 194 in Denver District/Juvenile Court level jury trials (which handles cases with higher stakes) were in criminal cases, which amounts to 75% of jurors at that level because felonies generally have twelve jurors deliberate while civil cases have six jurors deliberate. There are also more long criminal trials than there are long civil trials.

Jurors summoned to the old court house will predominantly be hearing personal injury and parental rights cases.

6. For jurors, the new parking garage that goes with the new justice center will be a big deal.

7. Judges rotate from criminal to civil dockets (switches are made annually but not every judge changes every year), so there isn’t a permanent status difference being built up between the two sets of judges.

8. Prosecutors and public defenders, however, don’t rotate, and for them it will be a major moral booster. Public defenders and criminal defense attorneys will also have much shorter trips to see their clients and it will be easier for visitors. They deserve it, since they spend time in court far more regularly than lawyers for civil litigants (other than a handful of county court collection lawyers) and have better pay on average to make up for older courtrooms. A larger share of what happens in criminal court happens in person in the courthouse than in civil courtroom procedings.

9. Presumably the civil side of the county court will relocate to the City and County building from rented office space nearby. It will be interesting to see what fills the gap left when county court moves out.

10. When will we get more decent restaurants near the courthouse? There is little time to get food on your lunch break and usually lots of talking for those involved in cases to do during that time as well. There isn’t time to take a long hike (and possibly disturb your parking arrangements) at lunch time, and the new court house is no better and arguably worse on this score.

A detention center opening in April is sooner than seemed possible, and a July court house opening doesn’t seem that far off. Once both are open, the court/jail security benefits should be substantial. I don’t think many people realize how much of a risk and expense the status quo is for all involved.

Does anyone know what plans there are for “the Tower” next to police headquarters now, as a result of the opening of the detention center?