Essex County Government Complex

The complex comprises various buildings built since 1904, when the historic courthouse was constructed, and is adorned with public art, including statues and busts of prominent civic leaders.

The Neo-Classical Essex County Hall of Records at 465 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard was designed by Guilbert and Betelle and built between 1925 and 1927 (cornerstone 1926).

Built between 1967 – 1970, the modern architecture Essex County Veterans Courthouse was designed by Robert H. Fava, Richard O. Becker, John B. Murray and Warren E Bendixen.

The lower three stories form the extended base on the east and west sides and have vertical concrete pillars with recessed glass walls.

[3] Leroy F. Smith Jr. Public Safety Building was originally built as a county jail at the same time as the adjacent 1970 Veterans Courthouse.

[4] The jail was subsequently replaced circa 2007 by the Essex County Correctional Facility on Doremus Avenue near Port Newark.

[5][6] It was dedicated to Leroy F. Smith Jr., associate director of Emergency Medical Services at UMDNJ-The University Hospital for 38 years, who had once entered the jail alone and negotiated the release of a hostage held during prison strike.

Busts of Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Thurgood Marshall civil rights activist Rabbi Joachim Prinz, and Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey Sheila Oliver are planned.

It houses the Superior Court of New Jersey's 18 courtrooms, detention facilities, judges chambers, jury rooms, conference rooms, offices for administration staff, offices for the family division, special civil part, the child support unit and a host of ancillary support facilities.

Commemorative plaques pay homage to civil leaders and public figures who have made significant contributions to Essex County.