Hennepin County's district court in Edina has closed

Hennepin County's district courtroom in Edina permanently closed for business Friday, in preparation for the future demolition of the 45-year-old building on York Avenue.

To address the closure, the county's other courts will split the Edina caseload among the judges who cover those calendars. Misdemeanor and traffic offenses handled by the Edina courtroom will be distributed as follows:

• Bloomington, Metropolitan Airports Commission and Richfield cases will go to the Hennepin County Government Center and the Public Safety Facility in downtown Minneapolis.

• Edina and St. Louis Park cases will go to the Ridgedale courtroom at 12601 Ridgedale Dr., Minnetonka.

• Golden Valley, Plymouth, and Maple Grove cases will move from Ridgedale to the Brookdale courtroom at 6125 Shingle Creek Pkwy., Brooklyn Center.

The combined caseloads of the county's three suburban satellite courts would create the third-busiest county court system in the state, behind the remainder of Hennepin County and all of Ramsey County. In 2017, each of the Hennepin County suburban courts handled more case filings than 83 of Minnesota's other 86 counties.

Margo Geffen, Hennepin County's facility services director, said she didn't know of any plans to replace the Edina courtroom.

The Southdale branch of the Hennepin County Library, housed in the same building, will remain open indefinitely. As a part of a phased approach, site evaluations are underway for a new library — anticipated to open in 2022 — and possible shared development.

Geffen said that options for locating a replacement library include a new building at the current site on York Avenue or at the nearby Southdale Center mall. If a new library is built at the mall, the current library would stay open until materials were transferred.

David Chanen • 612-673-4465