Monterey County’s next courthouse will be in Seaside’s Main Gate property, but questions remain.

After years of speculation, a question has been answered. An April 12 report from the state’s Judicial Council makes clear that the next location for a new courthouse in Monterey County will be in Seaside.

Over those years, there has been a debate about where the state should prioritize a new courthouse in the county: somewhere on the former Fort Ord, or in South County, where residents had to travel as far as Monterey for access to the legal system?

The case for the Peninsula was that the existing courthouse in Monterey is filled with asbestos and at risk for flooding, and perhaps most importantly, had been deemed by the Judicial Council – the state body that decides such matters – to be a seismic risk.

The case for a South County courthouse in Greenfield – where at least a decade ago land was (and remains) set aside across from City Hall for that express purpose – is that South County residents lacked access to legal services, especially after the recession-induced closure of the King City courthouse in 2013.

In 2019, the Judicial Council’s assessment of its highest priority projects answered that question. Out of a list of 80 projects considered to be priorities across the state, a new courthouse in the former Fort Ord ranked fifth, while a South County courthouse ranked 52nd. Chris Ruhl, the court executive officer for Monterey County Superior Court, says once that assessment was released, officials decided to partially reopen the shuttered courthouse in King City to help fulfill South County need until the Greenfield project moves further up the list.

As far as the former Fort Ord courthouse, the Judicial Council looked at four different locations. Two were in Seaside: one on the property known as Main Gate north of Lightfighter Drive and east of Highway 1, and another on the property east of Gen. Jim Moore Boulevard known as Seaside East. The other two were in Marina: one on a property owned by TAMC east of Highway 1 and south of 8th Street, and another in a portion of The Dunes development just north of the Main Gate property.

In the April 12 report, the Main Gate property won out. The other sites failed the scoring process: two for lack of a water entitlement, and The Dunes option because it wasn’t for sale.

Now the question moving forward for the Judicial Council is which of two potential five-acre sites on the 57-acre Main Gate property should the courthouse be located: just north of Lightfighter, or on the northeastern part of property along Divarty Street?

The state has already budgeted $154.3 million for the project – a seven-room courthouse consolidating family and civil law cases into mostly one location – which is projected to be completed by April 2028.

Which raises another question: The land and building of the Monterey courthouse is owned by the county, so what will become of that? County Administrative Officer Charles McKee says it remains an open question that will ultimately be answered by the Board of Supervisors.