Ramsey County Courthouse

Had to do jury duty here and it went well. The first day was pretty horrible because of all the waiting. But the place is big and spacious. Love the statues and art.

The building is beautiful and inspiring. What happens inside does not always match. Servings include large portions of disappointment

Ok, am I a fan? Well, not really but I will say having been on jury duty this week and to the St. Paul Court House for the 1^st time I was pleasantly surprised how nice it is and how friendly everyone seems there. Lovely Art Deco design and wonderful architecture. Plenty to do downtown while on those loooooong lunches.

A lady coming out of the drunk tank said I have nice hair.
Yeah, that’s at least two of these stars. Otherwise this place is awful, everytime I have to come down here it is for something really crappy.

I would have liked this place more if I wasn’t there to pay a $ 180 moving violation. Other than that the civil servants were kind and attentive and I was in and out in about 5 minutes. Yup…5 minutes and $ 180 that I’ll never get back…

The traffic violation area sucks; it very typically has that under-​air-​conditioned overpopulated with disgruntled misdemeanants/​INR kind of feel, but oh em gee, that lobby… the exterior… it’s all pure Deco perfection. Who knew that getting a speeding ticket would introduce me to such perfect architecture?

So I’m not going to lie, I wanted to review Ramsey County’s new jail and this is the closest thing I could find. I frequent here to contest traffic violations and plead not guilty to driving while text messaging (I confess, I was really Unilocaling). What a fun building! Unlike it’s disgusting counterpart the Hennepin County Court House (which is a disgrace to government), this place is pleasant to breath air in and enjoy the wonderful architecture. Great place to bring the kids for a little family field trip, grab lunch with scenic Mississippi River views and show little Jane and Johnny where they’re end up if they misbehave.

I know, I am strange. Wandered in pre security and was blown away by the giant statue at the end of the lobby. Come in off the 4^th street entrance, and get screened as if at the airport (wand, xray) and wait to pick your jaw from the ground.
I came back for jury duty last week, and was still impressed with the scale and importance of this structure and statue.
It is clean, there is art (check the glass cases in the lower lobby) and the deco style is pretty cool.
One of the hidden and unknown gems of downtown St. Paul. Unless you work at the courthouse, are a juror or criminal, of course.