Delaware County - American Courthouses

Delaware County is named for the Delaware Native American people.

Surrounding County Courthouses:

N – Grant County and Blackford County

E – Jay County and Randolph County

S – Henry County

W – Madison County

Created: January 26, 1827

County Seat:

Muncie 1827 – present

County Justice Center – Muncie

Location: 3100 South Tillotson Avenue / West 26th Street

Built: 1995 – 1996 / 2018 – 2020

Style: Modern School

Architect: Fanning-Howey Associates (school) / RQAW Corporation of Indianapolis

Contractor: Unknown (school) / B W Construction of Indianapolis and James Babcock, Inc.

Description: The building faces northwest and is a two story red colored brick and concrete structure. The building is located on spacious landscaped grounds of the Courthouse Campus to the southwest of the center of Muncie. The building was built as the Wilson Middle School in 1995 and has two wings extending northwest with the entrance quadrangle between. The roof line is hipped. In the interior, the hallways are wide. There are seven County Circuit Court courtrooms. The building is named as the County Justice and Rehabilitation Center. The building houses the County Circuit Court of the 15th Judicial District. During conversion to a courthouse, the architect was RQAW Corporation of Indianapolis and the contractor was B W Construction of Indianapolis and James Babcock, Inc.

County Administration Building – Muncie

Location: 100 West Main Street / North Walnut Street

Built: 1966 – 1968

Style: Modern

Architect: Hamilton, Graham Associates and George W Cox of Muncie

Contractor: F A Wilheim

Description: The building faces east and is a three story white colored concrete and glass structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Muncie. The building is an “L” shape with plaza on the east side. The first story is raised on concrete pillars on the east side. The east wing is raised on pillars with the main entrance underneath. The windows are narrow and vertical. A wide concrete band follows the flat roof line. The ‘Indian’, ‘Industry’, and ‘Agriculture’ statues were removed from the 1887 courthouse and now stand at the west front of the building. The building served as the fourth courthouse from 1969 to 1992.

Former County Justice Center – Muncie

Location: 100 West Washington Street / North Walnut Street

Built: 1988 – 1992

Style: Modern

Architect: Graham, Love & Graham / J Robert Taylor

Contractor: Unknown

Description: The building faces southeast and is a two story red colored brick, concrete and glass structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Muncie on the north side of the courthouse. The building is triangular in shape with a plaza on the southeast side. The roof line is flat. The building ceased to house the courts in 2020 and is being converted into condos.

Note: The cost of construction of the County Justice Center was $63,000,000. The original architects, Graham, Love & Graham were replaced by J Robert Taylor. There were many cost overruns and the contractor went bankrupt.

See: The 15th Judicial District includes Blackford County, Henry County, Jay County and Randolph County.

History: The county was created in 1827 and Muncie was selected as the county seat. The first courthouse was a frame structure built in 1829. The second courthouse was built by Morgan John in 1837. The third courthouse was designed by Brentwood Tolan and constructed by Charles Pearce & Company in 1887 and was razed in 1966. The courthouses in Kosciusko County and Parke County are of similar design. The fourth courthouse was constructed in 1966 to 1969 and is still standing as the County Administration Building. The fifth courthouse was the County Justice Center constructed in 1988 to 1992. The new County Justice Center is the sixth courthouse and was constructed in 1995 to 1996 as a school and was converted in 2018 to 2020 at a cost of $45,000,000..