Kaufman County - American Courthouses

Kaufman County is named for David Spangler Kaufman, who was a Jewish Texas state senator and the first Jewish member of the United States House of Representatives.

Surrounding County Courthouses:

N – Rockwall County and Hunt County

E – Van Zandt County

S – Henderson County

W – Ellis County and Dallas County

Created: February 26, 1848

County Seat:

Kaufman 1848 – present

County Courthouse ( vacant ) – Kaufman

Location: 100 West Mulberry Street / North Washington Street

Built: 1955 – 1956

Style: Modern

Architect: Wyatt C Hedrick of Fort Worth ( A Warren, Morey and McGill of Dallas )

Contractor: Lee-Emmert Contractors

Description: The building faces south and is a two story buff colored brick, steel, aluminum, black colored marble and concrete structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Kaufman. The south front has a large recessed center section with green-blue wall paneling. The east and west wings extend forming a courtyard. The roof line is flat. The building houses the County District Court, Constitutional County Court and County Court of Law of the 1st Administrative Judicial Region. The building was closed in 2023 and stands vacant.

See: The architect, Wyatt C Hedrick of Fort Worth also designed courthouses in Austin County, Brazoria County, Coke County, Comanche County, Kent County, Motley County, Walker County and Yoakum County.

County Justice Center – Kaufman

Location: 1902 East Highway 175 / Frontage Road

Built: 2020 – 2022

Style: Modern

Architect: HOK Group Inc. of St Louis, Missouri

Contractor: Gallagher Construction Management – Cuming Group of Dallas

Description: The building faces east and is a four story buff colored brick, steel, glass and concrete structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds to the southeast of the center of Kaufman. The east front has a high porch supported by four pillars with glass wall behind. The roof line is flat. In the interior are five courtrooms consisting of a ceremonial courtroom, two County District Court courtrooms and two County Courts of Law courtrooms. The building houses the County District Court, Constitutional County Court and County Court of Law of the 1st Administrative Judicial Region.

See: The 1st Administrative Judicial Region has a main office in McKinney in Collin County.

History: The county was created in 1848 and Kaufman was selected as the county seat. The first building used as a courthouse in 1851 was renovated by G R Paschal. The first courthouse was built by Hugh Yarbrough of Tyler in 1861. The second courthouse was built by James Brown from 1870 to 1872. The third courthouse was designed by Wesley Charles Dodson of Waco and constructed by Aubrey, Solon and Laude in 1887 for a cost of $69,569. The County Justice Center was constructed in 2020 to 2022 at a cost of $39,060,000.