[1] The first judicial building in Dumbarton was the old tolbooth on the north side of the High Street which was first mentioned in 1627[2] and re-built in around 1645.

[5] After the tollbooth became dilapidated, the sheriff decided to commission a new courthouse on the east side of Church Street.

[1] Dunbartonshire County Council moved to new County Buildings on Garshake Road in 1965,[8] after which the Church Street building was used solely for judicial purposes: it continued to be used for hearings of the sheriff court and, on one day a month, for hearings of the justice of the peace court.

[9] The court was the venue, in 1984, for the trial of the Quaker, Helen Steven, who was accused of taking part in a nonviolent demonstration at the Faslane nuclear base: she refused to pay the fine and was imprisoned.

The works, which cost £7.5 million and increased the number of courtrooms for three to five, were carried out by Rok Construction to a design by Aedas.