Morgan County is named for Daniel Morgan, who was a general in the American Revolutionary War, and who lived from 1736 to 1802.
Surrounding County Courthouses:
N – Rowan County and Elliott County
E – Lawrence County, Johnson County and Magoffin County
S – Magoffin County and Wolfe County
W – Menifee County
Created: December 7, 1822
County Seat:
West Liberty 1822 – present
County Courthouse – West Liberty
Location: 518 Main Street / Court Street
Built: 1907 – 1908
Style: Beaux Arts
Architect: M T Lewman of Louisville
Contractor: M T Lewman & Company of Louisville
Description: The building faces south and is a two story brownish green colored stuccoed concrete structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of West Liberty. The building is constructed of reinforced concrete blocks, two blocks thick, and is basically square with octagonal pavilions projecting at each corner. Thin belcourses run continuously around the building at the levels of the first and second story window sills. The building has a white colored concrete base. On the roof center is a large square white colored wood cupola with clock in the rounded dome at the top. The building has the usual central hall running east-west flanked by a pair of stairs leading to a large one-and-a-half-story courtroom that occupies most of the second story. In 1936, the walls were stuccoed with the aid of a Works Project Administration grant. The building was damaged by a tornado on March 2, 2012.
Note: The architect is M T Lewman as he was both an architect and a contractor. The design seems to belong to a series of imposing county courthouses constructed in Kentucky and elsewhere in the first decade of the twentieth century. It bears some resemblance, however, to several of the Kentucky works of Frank Pierce Milburn of Washington, DC. which included the Clay County courthouse in Manchester (no longer exists), and the Powell County courthouse in Stanton (1891 - no longer exists). The courthouse was modeled after the colonial capital in Williamsburg, Virginia.
See: The contractor, M T Lewman and Company of Louisville, Kentucky, built courthouses in Alabama in Autauga County, Coffee County and Monroe County; in Georgia in Dodge County, Franklin County and Jeff Davis County; in Kentucky in Graves County; in Louisiana in Assumption Parish; Point Coupee Parish and Tensas Parish; and in Mississippi in Lamar County and Lee County.
See: National Register of Historic Places – Morgan County Courthouse
County Judicial Center – West Liberty

Location: 518 Main Street / Court Street
Built: 2011 – 2014
Style: Modern
Architect: Murphy + Graves Architects of Lexington
Contractor: Codell Construction Company of Winchester
Description: The building faces south and is a two story brown colored brick, concrete and glass structure. The building is located in the center of West Liberty on the east side of the courthouse. The bottom portion of the building is white colored concrete and the upper part is red colored brick with vertical windows and corner windows. On the roof is a square cupola. The courtroom is located on the second story. The building is located on the east side of the courthouse. During construction, the building was severely damaged by a tornado on March 2, 2012.
See: The contractor was Codell Construction Company of Winchester which company constructed many courthouse in Kentucky ( see Louisville ).
History: The county was created in 1822 and West Liberty was selected as the county seat in 1825. The first courthouse was a wood frame structure built in 1825. The second courthouse was a two story brick structure which burned in 1862. The third courthouse, built shortly after, was also a brick structure. The fourth courthouse was constructed in 1907 to 1908 and is still standing. The fifth and present courthouse, County Judicial Center, was constructed in 2011 to 2014.

County Courthouse – West Liberty






County Judicial Center – West Liberty















Old County Jail – West Liberty

Photos taken 2007, 2014 and 2018