The relocation began July 20, 2026. The court said the move affects criminal, traffic, collections, probate, records requests, jury services and juvenile-dependency clerk functions.

For residents, jurors, attorneys and people involved in court cases, the change means the correct destination may depend on whether they need clerk services or are appearing for a hearing. The court’s notice does not describe the Hall of Justice as closing.

Several hearing types shifted July 27

Beginning July 27, 2026, traffic, misdemeanor criminal, mental-health, probate and juvenile-dependency matters began being heard at the new courthouse at 625 Administration Drive.

Felony criminal cases remained at the old courthouse at the time of the court’s relocation notice. The notice does not say that felony cases will remain there permanently, so people with felony matters should confirm the assigned courthouse before appearing.

The courtroom changes are separate from the clerk-office move in practical terms, although both are part of the court’s broader relocation process. A person going to file paperwork, request records, report for jury service or handle another clerk matter may need to go to the new Administration Drive site. Someone attending a hearing must verify the location for that specific case.

What court users need to check

The court identified the new location as 625 Administration Drive, Santa Rosa, CA 95403. The affected clerk functions include several services that do not necessarily involve a courtroom appearance, including records requests, collections and jury services.

The court also directs users to its relocation information for additional courtroom changes. That instruction matters because the relocation notice identifies the hearing categories moved on July 27 but does not establish a permanent arrangement for every case type.

People with scheduled matters should rely on the court’s current relocation information and their case-specific instructions rather than assuming that all Sonoma County court business is handled at one building. The same caution applies to attorneys and jurors who may have visited the Hall of Justice for earlier proceedings or services.

Move remains an active operational change

The court’s announcement describes an active operational update, not a proposal awaiting approval. Clerk operations began relocating on July 20, and the specified courtroom changes took effect July 27.

The notice does not provide a final completion date for every part of the clerk-office move. It also leaves open the possibility that felony courtroom arrangements or other courtroom assignments could change later. For that reason, the court’s relocation information remains the next point of reference for additional changes.

The immediate local consequence is a split courthouse system: the new Santa Rosa site handles the clerk functions and hearing categories identified by the court, while felony criminal cases remained at the Hall of Justice when the notice was issued. Checking the location before traveling can help court users avoid going to the wrong facility for a filing, records request, jury obligation or hearing.

Key point: Don’t rely on the venue described in news coverage as final until you locate the docket in the clerk’s portal. Online listings can lag, and party names can show up with spelling variations.

Why Port St. Lucie residents may need Broward’s court portal

Law&Crime’s coverage says the lawsuit was filed in Broward County Circuit Court. In Florida, that can happen even when the incident occurred in a different county—so your fastest path to the case details may be Broward’s public case-search tool.

Step-by-step: use Broward Clerk “Case Search – Public”

1) Start with a party-name search. Search by the plaintiff/family name connected to Emma Riddle. If results are messy or incomplete, try the name variations you see (for example, spacing and punctuation differences).

2) Narrow with court type + date range. Broward’s portal explains that record searches are limited (it notes a “first 200 results” limit), and that you can improve results by refining your search using a court type and a filing date range.

3) Use a filing-date range that matches the recent reports’ timing. The news reports you may have seen were published July 20–21, 2026, so when the portal offers date-range filters, use a range that covers that window to avoid pulling up unrelated older filings.

4) Confirm the venue and “what you’re looking at.” After you locate the record, verify the case number and the court fields shown in the portal.

Reliability note from Broward’s portal: it warns that information provided through the site does not constitute the official court records of the clerk. Practically, you should use the portal to find the docket, then treat the docket details as confirmed only once you have the official case information in hand.

If Broward doesn’t show it: start with St. Lucie County Clerk’s Public Search

If Broward’s portal doesn’t turn up the case, St. Lucie County Clerk’s Public Search page describes the county’s public search engines for court case information and other public records. Use it as a secondary official starting point—especially if you need to double-check filters or related indexing before expanding your search to other identifiers.

When you find the docket: save these details

• Case number
• Filing date
• Court/division/section (if shown)
• Judge (if shown)
• Listed parties and defendants

Then, for future updates, track the same case number rather than relying on memory or later summaries.

Not legal advice: This is a practical guide to using public court-record portals—not a substitute for legal counsel.

Sources

• NewsRadio WIOD (Florida News): lawsuit reported filed after Port St. Lucie Urban Air go-kart crash death
• Law&Crime: wrongful-death lawsuit filed; includes venue detail (Broward County Circuit Court) for docket lookup
• St. Lucie County Clerk – Public Search (official court record search portal)
• Broward County Clerk of Courts – Case Search (Public) (official docket lookup tool)