South Florida Personal Injury Blog

West Palm Beach accident attorney Andrew Alitowski has learned of a problematic situation affecting the Palm Beach County Courthouse in downtown West Palm Beach this morning. At about 10:00 this morning, the courthouse completely lost power, leaving a lot of people in the dark. The regular courthouse functions ceased completely due to the lack of light. The Palm Beach County Courthouse is home to several different types of activities, including civil and criminal hearings and trials, as well as county responsibilities such as the issuance of marriage licenses.

Additionally, the West Palm Beach City Commissioners were meeting when they lost power. Although they typically record their meetings, they elected to continue rather than disband, relying on notes of the meeting. The Commissioners meet on the twelfth floor of the city hall building.

The Palm Beach County Courthouse can be seen in this local police civil disobedience training video:

Other government buildings were affected, including the West Palm Beach City Hall. Likewise, the Palm Beach County Office of the Public Defender, as well as the State Attorney’s Office in the same building, lost power at their location across the street from the courthouse.

Lawyers, judges, plaintiffs, and defendants of every kind poured out of the courthouse. Non-essential employees were advised to depart using the staircases, as elevators are out of service during a power outage. People could not leave the area because the electronic arms, which raise or lower to allow entry and exit into the parking garages, were stuck in the down position. As a result, many people headed to Clematis Street for coffee and to find something to do in until power was restored.

The courthouse administrator, Rick Hussey, said that many people evacuating the courthouse lit the way with light from their cell phones. The courthouse’s 22 courtrooms with electronic equipment to record hearings and trials will have to be rebooted upon the restoration of power. Florida Power and Light reported that they experienced equipment failure that led to the loss of power for about 3,000 customers, including the government buildings and area businesses. The primary area affected in West Palm Beach was north of Okeechobee Boulevard and east of Australian Avenue. A spokesperson for Florida Power and Light indicated that the company is still investigating what led to the equipment failure, but that they were able to restore electric service about 45 minutes following the outage. The offices of Palm Beach personal injury attorney Andrew Alitowski was not affected.