[2]: 83, 89–90  [3] A neo-Gothic courthouse and Italianate Hall of Records were built between 1875 and 1888; those buildings were badly damaged by the 1925 Santa Barbara earthquake and were demolished.

[4]: 16 The current Santa Barbara County Courthouse was completed and dedicated in 1929 in the Spanish Colonial Revival style, designed by William Mooser III, on the site where the 1872 courthouse had once stood.

The county courthouse was credited as the genesis and inspiration for the restyling of the entire city of Santa Barbara, which "was once the average American Victorian town, with little distinctiveness.

"[4]: 17  Mooser, who had just returned from a 17-year stay in Spain, moved to Santa Barbara in 1926 to direct the building of the new courthouse.

[4]: 18 In addition to the main courthouse campus in the county seat, Santa Barbara, satellite courts operate in Santa Maria, the county's largest city, and Lompoc.