Platte County Courthouse, Wheatland Wyoming

Courthouse decorated for Memorial Day, 2014.

This is the Platte County Courthouse located in Platte County's seat, Wheatland Wyoming. The courthouse, in addition to housing the county court for Platte County, also houses one of the four courtrooms of Wyoming's 8th Judicial District, with the others being located in Douglas, Lusk and Torrington. The courthouse was built in 1917, and somewhat uniquely it has a monument dedicated to farmers called "The Irrigator". The Statute of Liberty is a monument for Platte County World War Two servicemen.

I've photographed this courthouse and its features at least three times. The first time was on a dreary July day in 2011.  I did it again in May 2014.  These most recent photographs are from November 2018.

A difference over this period of time is that a plaque commemorating the 100th anniversary of the founding of Platte County, which was in 1911, was put in. Additionally, a nice sidewalk clock was added on the walkway to the entrance of the courthouse.

A New Wind River Tribal Judicial Center?

 

 The current Wind River Tribal Court.

We wrote about this courthouse quite some time ago, here:

Courthouses of the West: Wind River Indian Reservation Tribal Court: This is the Wind River Indian Reservation Tribal Court, which also houses various other law related facilities. The court is located in F...

An interesting article in the Star Tribune reports that  representatives of the Tribal judicial system appeared in front of a committee of the Wyoming legislature this past week to seek support, which they received, for a new judicial center.  The Federal government will have to provide the funding, but state support can't hurt.

The jail is grossly overcrowded and apparently the new three judge panel for the Court is enforcing the criminal law much more rigorously than in the past.  The deficiencies of the courthouse, which includes the jail and the headquarters for the police department, are showing themselves.  About three times as many prisoners are housed there on a daily basis than it was built for.

I can attest personally that the courtroom is quite inadequate.  I hope they receive the funding they're seeking, and soon.

Town of Mills, Wyoming Municipal Court.

This is the Town of Mills Municipal Court in Mills, Wyoming.  Mills is a city adjacent to the City of Casper, so I should have added this additional Natrona County municipal court some time ago.

Lex Anteinternet: Monday At The Bar: Forgetting the past so we can ...

Lex Anteinternet: Monday At The Bar: Forgetting the past so we can ...: When I was first practicing law, a million years ago, the City of Casper determined to replace its part time contract judges with a full tim...

Lawrence County Courthouse. Speerfish South Dakota.

Probably the most remarkable thing about this photograph of the Lawrence County Courthouse in Speerfish, South Dakota is that (other than it being poorly aligned) is that there are no motorcycles in the photograph.  It took me four tries to achieve that.

Which is part of the hazards associated with taking a photograph in the Sturgis area during motorcycle rally week.

I don't know the vintage of this well preserved classic courthouse, but it's clearly an older one and very nice in appearance.  The court houses South Dakota's Fourth Judicial District and serves as the county seat for Lawrence County as well.

University of Wyoming College of Law Large Moot Court, Laramie Wyoming

This is the large Moot Court Room for the University of Wyoming.  Having been in most of the courtrooms in the state I can safely say that its one of the nicest in the entire state.

The back half, or gallery half, of the courtroom has a moveable wall that can open up to allow greater space, or perhaps just more conventional space in the courtroom and also allow the courtroom to function as a lecture hall.  Viewed as a courtroom, what we see here in front of us is the bar of the court.

When I went to UW's College of Law it didn't have a moot courtroom at all, now it has two, a large one and a small one (I have yet to see the small one).  This particular room was the large classroom at the time.  It is quite a facility and I guess it demonstrates how much the physical assets of the College of Law have improved in the past three decades.

According to the University, the College of Law will allow the courtroom to be used by the state courts upon request, if it is not already in use.

Lex Anteinternet: And the nominee is . .

Lex Anteinternet: And the nominee is . .: Neil Gorsuch of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. He's a conservative textualist who is well suited to replace the late Antonin Scali...

Harris County Texas Courthouses

These photographs depict, from a distance, the old and new Harris County Texas courthouses.  The old one, a classically styled courthouse, was built in 1910.  The new one much more recently, having been started in 2003.

The new courthouse is a seventeen story structure.  Locals in the law seem quite proud of it, but I don't know what I think.  It retains some classic elements but it's sort of big and overgrown.