The early courts in Red Deer used leased and borrowed buildings. For example, the Red Deer Public School was used to host court when it was built in 1894. With the founding of the province in 1905, a Red Deer court was established in the Wetaskiwin judicial district of Alberta. In 1907, the formation of the Red Deer sub-judicial district court was set up more permanently, with offices in the Johns block on Gaetz Avenue north and court sittings held in the Customs offices over the post office at 4909 Ross Street.

In 1915 Red Deer was made a full judicial district of its own and in 1921 the province signed a 10 year lease for the Gaetz Company Limited building (Gaetz Manufacturing Ltd.) at 4840 51 Street, converting it from a coverall factory to a court house. At the end of the lease, this building was purchased by the Provincial Government for Alberta Provincial Police offices.

Red Deer Archives, P460

In 1931, Red Deer opened its first purpose-built court house at 4836 Ross Street. This was the final court house built in Alberta with classical design features. It was expanded in the 1950s but was still considered too small to manage Red Deer’s growth, and some court cases were handled in the old Parson’s Clinic and other locations.

Red Deer Archives, N396

By the early 1960s, discussion had started about a new court house for Red Deer. The previous building was dated, dingy, and small. There were many talks about potential locations and types of court houses and in December 1966, the Minister of Public Works Fred C. Colborne finally announced construction of a new court house to be built at the southeast corner of 49 Avenue and 49 Street. This location proved to be very unpopular with the lawyers, who proposed a quieter site on the banks of the Waskasoo Creek instead, and downtown developers who wanted a commercial skyscraper on that site.

In 1978, Red Deer MLA and Attorney-General Jim Foster created the Court of Queen's Bench by merging the District Court and trial division of the Alberta Supreme Court. This expanded the potential locations for Queen's Bench judges beyond Calgary and Edmonton to include Red Deer, Lethbridge, Grande Prairie, and others.

Following this change, and a land swap between The City and The Province, a new provincial court house was built at 4909 48 Avenue and officially opened October 1984. The 1931 Court House became a mixed-use building, housing the Allied Arts Council and various businesses over the years, and the former site at 49 Avenue and 49 Street eventually became Sorensen Station.

Red Deer Archives, S630

With significant population growth in Red Deer and central Alberta, by the mid-1990s there were already widespread complaints that the new courthouse was too small for the community. In April 2014, non-criminal court cases were often moved to a meeting room in the Red Deer Lodge Hotel, to mixed reviews. The former downtown police building and adjacent land was purchased by the province in early 2018 for a new justice centre, and the groundbreaking took place September 2020.

The new Court of King's Bench of Alberta Justice Centre at 4801 49 Street, has 12 courtrooms and the potential to include four more in the future.

Access the research guide to learn more about Red Deer's court houses.

Red Deer Archives, E22918