Baltimore City Circuit Courthouses

The Baltimore City Circuit Courthouses are located in downtown Baltimore, Maryland. Facing each other in the 100 block of North Calvert Street, between East Lexington Street on the north and East Fayette Street on the south across the Battle Monument Square which held the original site of the first courthouse for Baltimore County and Town. The Monument was constructed by design of Maximilian Godefroy from 1815, on the first year anniversary of the British attack on the city during the War of 1812 with the bombardment of Fort McHenry, the Battle of North Point and the fortifications at Loudenschlager's (now Hampstead) Hill (in present-day Patterson Park during September 12-14, 1814. The Square has been the site of numerous mass meetings, demonstrations, assemblies, speeches and even riots and military occupation in the 280 year history of the city. The first courthouse was raised on a pair of arched stone piers to permit the extension of Calvert Street to go further north underneath. A second courthouse was constructed to the west on the northwest corner of North Calvert and East Lexington Streets designed by XXX architect and constructed in 1820s. It was razed to permit a new third courthouse to be erected on the entire block west of the Battle Monument, bounded by North Calvert Street on the east, East Lexington Street on the north, East Fayette Street on the south and St. Paul Street on the west.

The Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr, Courthouse and Courthouse East (the old Baltimore Post Office and U.S. Courthouse) house the 30 judges of the 8th Judicial Circuit for the State of Maryland. In addition to the criminal, civil and family courts, the courthouses also contain the Office of the State's Attorney for Baltimore City, the Clerk of the Court, the Baltimore City Law Library, the Sheriff's Office, the Baltimore Courthouse and Law Museum, the Pretrial Release Division of the Maryland Division of Corrections, several pretrial detention lockups, jury assembly rooms, land records, court medical offices and Masters hearing rooms.