El Paso County | US Courthouses

El Paso County is named for the pass that the Rio Grande creates flowing through the mountains on either side of the river.

Surrounding County Courthouses:

N – Dona Ana County, New Mexico and Otero County, New Mexico

E – Hudspeth County

S – Mexico

W – Mexico and Dona Ana County, New Mexico

Created: January 3 1850

County Seat:

San Elizario 1850 – 1866

Ysleta 1866 – 1868

San Elizario 1868 – 1873

Ysleta 1873 – 1884

El Paso 1884 – present

County Courthouse – El Paso

Location: 500 East San Antonio Avenue / South Kansas Street

Built: 1990 – 1992

Style: Modern

Architect: Garland & Hilles/Fischer Cordova Partners

Contractor: Charter Builders, Inc. ( Robert Navarro & Associates Engineering, Inc. )

Description: The building faces north and is a thirteen story glass, steel and concrete structure. The building is located in the center of El Paso. The north front has a Mission style red colored brick wing with the main entrance. The first and second stories have red colored brick and the rest of the building has a blue colored glass exterior rising to a central peak. On the north side is a sunken courtyard. The roof line is flat. The building contains sixteen courtrooms, ceremonial courtroom, Court of Appeals courtroom and Law Library. The building houses the State District Courts, Constitutional County Court, County Court at Large, County Criminal Court at Large and Probate Court and also houses the Eighth Court of Appeals on the twelfth story.

History: The county was created in 1850 and San Elizario was selected as the county seat. The first courthouse and jail were built in 1850, and the jail is still standing. In 1866, the county seat was moved to Ysleta and the second courthouse, a sandstone structure was built by J W Angus in 1866 at a cost of $14,495. The county seat was moved back to San Elizario in 1868 and then back to Ysleta. In 1871, the third courthouse was built in Ysleta as a temporary courthouse until the county seat was moved back to Ysleta in 1873. In 1884, the county seat was moved to El Paso. The fourth courthouse was the Monarch Business Block a two story brick structure used as a temporary courthouse from 1884 to 1884. The fifth courthouse was designed by Alfred Giles and constructed by Britton & Long of Houston in 1884 to 1886 at a cost of $135,000. The sixth courthouse was designed by Henry Charles Trost of Trost & Trost and constructed by J E Morgan in 1917 to 1919. The building was remodeled and enlarged in 1955 to 1957 changing the appearance to a plain structure with no columns and was demolished in 1992. The seventh and present courthouse was constructed in 1990 to 1991.

Other Courthouses / Court of Appeals

El Paso ( Eighth Court of Appeals ) ( Old County Jail – San Elarzio )