The Carlisle County Courthouse was dedicated on Friday, June 3, 2011 by state and local  officials with a large crowd of well wishers on hand to tour the building and sweat in an unusually hot early June sunshine in the run up to the ribbon cutting.

Supreme Court Justice Chief John Minter gave the dedication speech. Minter, who practiced and judged in Warren County, before rising to the top spot in the highest Kentucky court in Frankfort, had his western Kentucky roots established in the introduction by First District Justice Bill Cunningham. Minter was born in Trigg County, so he “knows far western Kentucky” according to Cunningham.  

Minter told the crowd that the building had arisen like the legendary phoenix from the smoking ruins of the previous courthouse. That one was burned to the ground by an arsonist in late December 2007.  It replaced one that had also been burned by an arsonist ten years prior. The courthouse in county seat Bardwell is one of a growing minority in Kentucky that housed both local county officials and court offices.

Carlisle County officials in judicial and executive branches of local government had to scramble to find office space in the tiny community of Bardwell.  Space for the circuit court clerk, the sheriff and other elected officials were found in tucked away corners of the town.

Court was held in the Masonic Lodge for three years. Judge Tim Langford said the longest jury trial in Carlisle County history was held in the Masonic Lodge. It started right before the great ice storm and finished up twenty one days later when normalcy was restored. The Masons were gracious hosts, according to Langford, even building on a jury room to their original building.

The new courthouse is a huge Greek revival columned building large enough to hold all offices of government and two courtrooms. The old building only had one courtroom. Now circuit court is held upstairs and district court downstairs.  The jury box is equipped with video display terminals to allow jurors to easily view exhibits.

The building is equipped with the latest technology and security devices. Visitors now have to pass through security – which they did have to do previously.  It is also well equipped with a sprinkler system.

Carlisle County Judge Terry described the hard work that it took to fund the building in a time of economic downturn. He praised the Governor and local legislators for their assistance. “Everyone was on board with us.”

First District Circuit Judge Langford was especially proud the building came in on time and under budget. There was enough money in the plan to fund generators to run the facility if another outage occurs like the outages during the ice storm.

The new courthouse is located a mile northeast of Bardwell.