Kona Courthouse Opens Doors in September

Keahuolu Courthouse parking lot. PC: Hawai‘i State Judiciary.

The Hawai‘i State Judiciary will open its new West Hawai‘i courthouse early next week.

Located at 74-5451 Kamakaeha Avenue in Kailua-Kona, the $96 million facility will begin conducting all court business on Sept. 3, 2019. The three courthouses currently serving the area will close for good at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 30, according to a state press release.

“We are so excited to welcome everyone to the Keahuolu Courthouse,” said Third Circuit Chief Judge Greg Nakamura. “The West Hawai‘i community can now go to one facility for all their court-related needs, whether it be to pay for traffic citations, request court documents, take advantage of our self-help center or law library, or go to court.”

The name Keahuolu honors the ahupua‘a in which it is located.

The 140,000-square-foot facility sits on 10 acres of land. It has five courtrooms, as well as rooms for grand jurors and regular jurors, a driverʻs education office, juvenile and adult client services, sheriffʻs operations and administrative offices. There are 292 parking stalls for court visitors.

“I’m also extremely happy for the West Hawai‘i community,” said Chief Justice Mark E. Recktenwald. “For years, we have been providing court services in three different buildings, none of which were designed as courthouses. Very soon, the public will have a full-service facility where they can take care of all court-related matters in a centralized, convenient and secure environment.”

All phone numbers will remain the same. The main numbers are:

• Circuit Court 808-322-8750
• Family Court 808-443-2177
• District Court 808-322-8700

The facility cost $95.8 million for construction, furniture, fixtures, and equipment. Architects Hawai‘i Ltd. (AHL) was the architect and Nan Inc. was the general contractor.