Pennington County | US Courthouses

Pennington County is named after Edmund Pennington, who was a railroad operator.

Surrounding County Courthouses:

N – Marshall County

E – Beltrami County and Clearwater County

S – Polk County and Red Lake County

W – Polk County

Created: November 23, 1910

County Seat:

Thief River Falls 1910 – present

County Courthouse – Thief River Falls

Location: 101 North Main Avenue / 1st Street West

Built: 1954 – 1955

Style: Modern

Architect: Foss & Company of Fargo

Contractor: Nasvik Construction Company Inc.

Description: The building faces east and is a three story rectangular buff colored brick, concrete and glass structure. The building is 64 feet by 145 feet. Windows are set in three horizontal bands across the east front with green panels above and below. A cast stone molding frames the two upper stories, excluding the two end bays of tan colored brick. A three-story strip of glass brick interrupts the solid brick of the north and south ends. Two black colored marble rectangles support a cantilevered concrete canopy over the centered east entrance. The roof line is flat. In the interior, the former County District Court courtroom is located at the center of the second story.

See: The architect Foss Associates Architects also designed courthouses in Clearwater County, and in North Dakota in Billings County, Cavalier County, Morton County and Ramsey County.

County Justice Center – Thief River Falls

Location: 141 South Main Avenue / 1st Street West

Built: 2017 – 2018

Style: Modern

Architect: BKV Group of Minneapolis

Contractor: Contegrity Group Construction Management of Little Falls

Description: The building faces east and is a two story red brick, gray colored concrete and glass structure. The building is located in the center of the city to the south of the courthouse. The building was constructed as a southern addition to the Sheriff’s Building. The east front has a recessed glass entrance with large recessed window on the second story. The roof line is flat. In the interior, the two dark wood paneled County District Court courtrooms are located on the second story. The building houses the County District Court of the 9th Judicial District.

See: The 9th Judicial District includes Aitkin County, Beltrami County, Cass County, Clearwater County, Crow Wing County, Hubbard County, Itasca County, Kittson County, Koochiching County, Lake of the Woods County, Mahnomen County, Marshall County, Norman County, Polk County, Red Lake County and Roseau County.

History: The county was created in 1910 and Thief River Falls was selected as the county seat. The first courthouse was two remodeled city buildings which had separate doorways and different windows. The cost of remodeling was $6,150. The second courthouse was constructed in 1953 to 1954. The third and present courthouse ( Justice Center ) was constructed in 2017 to 2018.