Pershing county

In 1919 Humboldt County split up, and a new county was formed - Pershing County - which today houses one of the state’s correctional facilities. The Pershing County courthouse was designed by California and Nevada courthouse architect Frederic De Longchamps. The courthouse’s key Jeffersonian features are its domed ceiling and perfectly round courtroom. The most unique courtroom feature is the semi-circular jury box in the center of the courtroom.  Lawyers often ask questions of witnesses by standing behind the jury box to ensure the farthest jurors can hear the witnesses. Also, as a result of the domed ceiling one on one side of the courtroom can often hear a conversation on the opposite side.

In 199, a renovation project funded largely by the Nevada Historical Preservation Society turned the “Round Room” below the Court into a tourist showpiece. Featured exhibits include a transcript of the first case ever heard in the new courthouse - a murder trial.

DeLongchamps, Nevada’s most celbrated architect, also designed courthouses in Carson City (Ormsby County), Clark County (Las Vegas), Douglas County, Washoe County (Reno), Lyon County, Modoc County (Calif.), and Alpine county (Calif.).

In 2005 Pershing County Judge Richard Wagner attended an art exhibit in Winnemucca and saw the artwork of Lovelock inmake Shorty Carpenter, “a very good artist and very bad burglar.” Judge Wagner contacted the inmate and asked if he would be interested in painting the state seal about the judge’s bench in the Lovelock courthous. Shorty agreed and spent thirty days paining the seal under the watchful eye of a correctional officer.

Following his parole, Shorty staked out a burglary opportunity in Reno - only to face a sheriff’s shotgun when he climbed through the window. Shorty was soon returned to the State’s custody.