Stanislaus County considers $6.75M project to remodel juvenile justice courtrooms
Stanislaus County could proceed with a $6.75 million project to upgrade Juvenile Justice courtroom space.
A staff report for Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting says the county’s two Juvenile Justice courtrooms are antiquated and no longer meet standards of the Judicial Council of California. The courtrooms are near the Juvenile Hall and Juvenile Commitment Facility on Blue Gum Avenue.
The courtroom for juvenile dependency cases for abused or neglected children will move to the new Superior Courthouse in downtown Modesto, but court proceedings for juvenile delinquency cases will stay at the Blue Gum Avenue campus, the report said.
Tuesday’s board action will increase the project budget by $4.7 million, now that construction costs and other expenditures are known, said county Spokeswoman Carissa Lucas.
After bids from six construction companies were unsealed, county staff members recommended awarding the contract to JPB Designs of Orangevale, which submitted the lowest bid, $4.23 million.
Construction will begin soon and be completed in fall 2027. Along with construction costs and contingencies, the total project budget also includes services and supplies.
Holding Juvenile Court proceedings at the Blue Gum campus means there is no need to transport young people in custody to court appearances downtown.
The two antiquated courtrooms are each about 500 square feet in size, with small chambers for judges. The courtrooms should be more than twice that size to meet today’s standards.
The largest source of funding for the remodeling project is $3.3 million from the Criminal Justice Facility Fund. Other sources are $1.2 million in public facility fees, $1 million from the Community Corrections Partnership and up to $1.2 million from the county general fund.
The Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors will meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the basement chambers of Tenth Street Place, at 1010 10th St., Modesto.
This story was originally published May 18, 2026 at 5:00 PM.
