The Madawaska District Court is closing permanently later this year.
The courthouse, located at 645 Main St., will close Nov. 1, according to a court order signed by Maine District Court Chief Judge Brent Davis on Wednesday. The judicial branch announced the closure Thursday.
Proceedings currently held in Madawaska will be divided between the Fort Kent District Court and the Caribou District Court.
Closing the courthouse will save money and make the court system run more effectively, according to testimony from Legislative Analyst Julia Finn. The courthouse is only open two days a month, one day for criminal cases and other for civil and family matters, according to her testimony.
Starting Nov. 1, residents of Madawaska, St. David, Grand Isle and Lille will file all new court actions in Fort Kent and all pending cases will be transferred as well. On that same date, residents of Keegan (T17 R3), Van Buren, Hamlin Plantation and Cyr Plantation will use the Caribou courthouse.
Madawaska cannot accept filings or other court records that are delivered by mail because it’s open so infrequently. There can be complications with someone trying to mail documents and the court never knowing, resulting in a warrant being issued, Finn’s testimony said.
When the Madawaska courthouse is open, a clerk carries two to three boxes of physical case files from Fort Kent to Madawaska and back, Finn’s testimony said. All cases are currently stored in Fort Kent.
Closing the Madawaska courthouse will save a little more than $44,000 in the upcoming fiscal year and then slightly less than $53,000 in fiscal year 2026 to 2027, according to a law passed earlier this year.
Gov. Janet Mills signed the law July 1.
Two other district courthouses in Maine are temporarily closed. The Newport District Courthouse closed temporarily in January and has no reopening date. The Lincoln District Courthouse closed in June and is scheduled to reopen Oct. 3.
