Norwalk courthouse still in use, just not as a courthouse

NORWALK, Conn. — No cases have been called at the state courthouse on Belden Avenue for more than six years and likely won’t be again, according to court officials.

But that doesn’t mean the building isn’t serving a purpose, they said. 

For years, the courthouse handled criminal cases from Norwalk, New Canaan, Weston, Westport, and Wilton — “Geographical Area 20” (GA 20) in the language of the state court system. The most serious cases from the jurisdiction were transferred to the Judicial District courthouse in downtown Stamford.

That changed with COVID-19, when all court business for the geographical area courthouses was consolidated at the judicial district courthouses. Once the pandemic eased, most GA courthouses reopened — with the exception of those in Norwalk and Enfield.

When the consolidation became permanent in 2022, attorneys, local leaders and state representatives lamented the closure. They noted that getting to Stamford during rush hour before court opens is no easy feat.

That hasn’t changed, according to Daniel Ford, a veteran Fairfield County defense attorney who said he cut his teeth in GA 20, which he called “far more accessible than going to Stamford.”

“The courthouse was easy for Norwalk residents to get to,” Ford said. “It was on the bus line. It is very difficult for clients who do not own a car to get to Stamford from Norwalk.”

While defendants with criminal and motor vehicle cases no longer line up outside every morning on the sidewalk outside before doors open, the building has been repurposed for use by the Judicial Branch’s Court Support Services Division.

“Judicial Branch staff, including members of Adult Probation, Juvenile Probation, and Family Services, utilize it regularly for their interactions with the public, as well as for training opportunities,” Stephen Ment, the Judicial Branch’s executive director of external affairs, said in a prepared statement. “There is no plan to resume court business at this location.”

Though the city’s seal is affixed above the main entrance to the building, the state owns the property, having bought it from the city in 1988 for $1.9 million, according to property records.

The 2.39-acre property currently has an assessed value of $7 million.

Even prior to COVID, the courthouse was not one of the busiest in the state, according to Judicial Branch statistics. It ended fiscal year 2018 with fewer pending cases than any other GA, for example.

Still, the building saw some high-profile cases over the years. In 2002 it was chosen as the site of Michael Skakel’s murder trial in the 1975 killing of 15-year-old Martha Moxley in Greenwich, because the Stamford courthouse had not yet opened. A jury found Skakel guilty but his conviction was thrown out by the state Supreme Court in 2018.

In 2014, American singer-songwriters (and spouses) Edie Brickell and Paul Simon appeared there after they received misdemeanor disorderly conduct summonses following a domestic violence call at their New Canaan home. The couple held hands in court, pledged they were not a danger to each other, and the charges were eventually dropped.