[4] A company of Union Army soldiers from Sioux City, Iowa took up quarters in the building, and the settlers returned to their homes.

T. Dudley Allen designed the structure in a Romanesque Revival style featuring a square tower with a hip roof on one corner.

By the early 21st-century, the historic structure started to fail and the County Board of Supervisors determined it was not worth renovating.

[1] Phase one construction, the western half of the building, was completed in March 2006 and the county jail, communications center and sheriff's department, assessor, recorder, treasurer, veterans affairs, clerk of courts, and community services moved into the new facility during an 8-inch (20 cm) snowstorm.

The 60,000-square-foot (5,600 m2) facility is two stories, faced with red brick and limestone accents, and features large windows on its curved front façade.

It rises 62 feet (19 m) and houses information on county history, attractions, and veterans named on the nearby memorial.

[5][7] Designed to last at least 100 years, the courthouse features three courtrooms, a state-of-the-art jail system and 911 communications center, a community/supervisors room that seats more than 100 people, decorative medallions on the terrazzo floor that depict county townships and lakes, and an eco-friendly parking lot that uses low impact development techniques to manage stormwater runoff.