Located away from the former county seat in downtown San Rafael, the expansive complex stretches across two valleys just east of US 101.

[5] A battle between factions of the Marin County Board of Supervisors played out through the selection of the site and the architect, the financing of the project, and its eventual completion.

Entrances are controlled by vertical grills of gold-anodized metal with rounded tops and bottoms, rather than doors.

[8] Interior spaces featured glass walls to allow light to penetrate from the exterior and the atrium, and to follow through on Wright's philosophy of maximum openness of government activities.

[8] The nearby Veterans' Memorial Auditorium was designed by the Taliesin Associated Architects and was completed in 1971 in a manner compatible with the main complex.

As the jail outgrew its space a number of proposals were advanced for a new facility adjoining the Civic Center.

A new, mostly underground jail was completed in 1994 in the hilltop immediately to the west of the Hall of Justice, designed by AECOM with 222 cells and 363 beds.

The idea was combined with a proposed county fairground, and 140 acres (57 ha) of the Scettrini ranch were purchased in 1956 for $551,416 along U.S. Highway 101 near Santa Venetia.

Schultz was the most ardent backer of Frank Lloyd Wright as prospective civic center architect.

[22] Schultz had the support of three of the men on the board, but the fourth, Supervisor William D. Fusselman,[23][24][25] a conservative candy[26] manufacturer from San Anselmo,[27] attempted to prevent[28] Wright from getting the commission.

[8] Fusselman, the holdout supervisor, represented a conservative base that was opposed to the rapid pace of change in Marin County and to the proposed move from the center of San Rafael.

[30] The county clerk, a Fusselman ally who had helped to organize the Legionnaires' protest, lost Wright's contract.

The low bidder was Rothschild, Raffin and Weirick of San Francisco for $3,638,735 for the building and $596,470 for site development.

[9] However, a poll by the Marin Independent Journal showing overwhelming support for the project pressured board members to change their minds.

This, together with a negative report on conversion to hospital[32] use by an independent architectural firm, led to the lifting of the stop-work order, construction resumed a week later.

Strikes, bad weather, delivery problems for materials and design changes pushed the proposed completion to July 1969.

[9] In August 1970 the Civic Center, which houses the Marin County Superior Court, was the scene of an attempted jailbreak led by Jonathan Jackson, the brother of Black Panther militant George Jackson, demanding the release of the so-called "Soledad Brothers".

Jackson released several prisoners in the courtroom and the group took a number of hostages, including the presiding judge, Harold Haley.

[35][36] Black Panther activist Angela Davis was eventually tied to the case, prompting her to go on the run before being caught and ultimately acquitted on charges of supplying firearms to Jonathan Jackson.

A revised 2018 proposal removed the Marin County Civic Center from the list of nominated buildings.