Historic Sutter County courthouse sits abandoned as state, county at impasse
A historic courthouse in Sutter County has fallen into disrepair, and no one seems to know what to do with it.
Vacant for a decade, the State of California offered to hand it over to the county for just $1, but the catch is a massive repair bill.
The old Sutter County Courthouse, at C and 2nd streets, sits neglected and abandoned. The windows are broken and boarded up, and the inside has become home to rodents and birds.
"It's a long history. The building is 125-plus years old. This is the third version of the building on that site. It's burned down twice in the past," said Ken Sra, general services director with Sutter County.
The old courthouse is an important part of the county's history, but it's fallen into disrepair ever since it was vacated roughly ten years ago as employees left for the new courthouse on Civic Center Boulevard.
"We've had complaints of rodents. We've seen pigeons, other types of birds flying into the building. There's asbestos, there's lead. All those things need to be remediated," Sra said.
Steve Smith, Sutter County administrator, said the building is under the control of the state Judicial Council. Once the state had the new courthouse built in 2015, it offered to sell the old one to the county for roughly $2 million.
The county says that wasn't something they could afford.
"After they had received it for free. So we didn't follow through with that offer, and in the meantime, it was their responsibility to maintain the old courthouse," Smith said.
The county says the state returned with a new offer in 2024. They would sell the old courthouse for just $1.
"They weren't able to find any solution for it, and last year, they offered it to the county again for $1, which then generated some interest from our leadership," Sra said.
However, to get the building back to a usable condition and up to current code, the county estimates that upwards of $20 million worth of work needs to be done.
"We'd have to have a more public discussion before moving forward. But hey, can we put out some kind of request for proposal from businesses, individuals, could be across the nation? Does someone want to come in and restore it? Turn it into a museum? Turn it into a boutique hotel? Or something nice for the community," said Smith.
The judicial council said in a statement to CBS News Sacramento that the state owns roughly 83% of the equity and that it has offered the county to purchase that equity, but the county hasn't been willing to do so and the efforts to dispose of its rights to the facility have been unsuccessful.
The state says they can't sell the property because the county remains as the title holder. The county doesn't want to assume ownership of a building that needs millions to repair.