The Jefferson County Court House was entered in the National Register
of Historic Places in 1982. The dedication marker at its historical entrance
reflects a great deal of its history: "The first County building constructed
at this site was a Jailhouse completed in 1838, 2 years after the origination
of Jefferson County. Located on land acquired from Nancy Tevis, a pioneer
settler of the area, it also housed County Offices and Courts. When the Com-
missioner's Court outgrew the facility, sessions were held in private homes.
The 1st Courthouse here was completed in 1854. Built by John A. Beaumont,
it was a two story square structure surrounded by a six-foot picket fence.
Baptist and Methodist congregations conducted Sunday services in the
building and during the Civil War it was leased to D. T. Inglehart, a
Confederate surgeon, for use as a hospital.
A second Courthouse was constructed in 1893, twelve years after the
incorporation of Beaumont. Designed by E. T. Heiner, it was a three story
red brick building with white trim.
Following the area oil boom of the 1920's it proved inadequate to meet the
needs of the growing population and was replaced by the present brick
Courthouse in 1931.
Designed by Fred Stone and A. Babin, the fourteen-story building features
art deco styling in the use of sculpted ornamentation and marble interior
work." The restoration of the Jefferson County Courthouse along with the
new Courthouse addition was completed in May 1984. The current Courthouse
and annex accommodates sixteen Courts, the "Constitutional" Jefferson
County Commissioner's Court, three County Courts at Law, ten State Courts,
and two of the seven Jefferson County's Justice of Peace Courts. The
County Court at Law # 1 is a Civil Court, and the County Courts at law # 2
& # 3 are Criminal Misdemeanor Courts. The State Courts are divided into
two Family / Domestic Courts (the 279th District Court, and the 317th
District Court), three Felony Courts (the 252nd District Court, the
Criminal District Court, and the Drug Impact Court), four Civil Courts
(the 58th District Court, the 60th District Court, the 136th District Court,
and the 172nd District Court), and one State Appellate Court (the 9th
District Court of Appeals).
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