Deschutes County's court was created when the county was established in 1916. For the first nineteen years, county offices and the courthouse leased space in the O'Kane Building, and in 1933 the county rented the former Central School from the school district for more space. In 1937, a suspicious fire left the south wing an empty shell. State officials suspected arson, but no one has ever been charged with setting the fire. In 1940, a W.P.A. grant funded construction of what is now recognized as the original portion of the current courthouse.