DOVER DISTRICT COURT opened for business in its new $3.3 million facility Oct. 28. The new courthouse consolidates the district courts of Dover, Rollinsford and Somersworth and is located on the same site as the old Dover courthouse.

The court had to close for about two weeks to move into the new building, as personnel and records were moved from their temporary quarters in a former middle school to the new building.

Dover District Court used to be located in an 8,000-square-foot building that sat on the same St. Thomas Street site. The building, which was a renovated telephone company building, did not have adequate facilities for the growing court, so a plan was developed to build a new, larger facility that would consolidate the district courts of several surrounding towns. After the building was demolished to begin construction on the new facility, Dover District Court moved temporarily into a former middle school next door.

The new 20,000-square-foot Dover District Court features two courtrooms on the second floor, one of which is equipped to handle jury trials, and a hearing room on the first floor for juvenile cases or other family matters requiring closed sessions. The courtrooms are equipped with computers, compact-disk audio recording and headphones for language translation or for hearing-impaired individuals. The building also features enhanced security.

There are numerous conference rooms and a prosecutor's office in the facility. Court staff has larger office space. James O'Neill, the regional court administrator, will work out of the building, as will local juvenile probation officers.

In addition to consolidating the courts of Dover, Rollinsford and Somersworth in the new courthouse, the state had also planned to include Durham District Court, which serves Durham, Lee and Madbury, in the consolidation. But because of logistics problems, the Legislature decided to keep the Durham courthouse open.

An official opening ceremony will be held at the new Dover District Court Dec. 6. Details will appear in a future issue of Bar News.

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