Employees are filing by on their way to work, one carrying a desk lamp.
Veronica Jones showed up at 8 a.m. to answer her jury summons. She's gotten out of jury duty three times before, but she doesn't have an excuse handy this time.
"I'm just ready to get it over," she said.
Joseph Thomas has been watching the construction of the new building with interest over the past year. He wasn't expecting his first experience in the courthouse to be for a DUI appearance, he said.
The fact it's a historic first day "doesn't help my situation much," he said.