In October 2004, the mayor of Denver established the Denver Justice Center Task Force, which consisted of 48 members who served on 3 subcommittees: program, finance, and design and construction. The task force was charged with assessing the need for building new detention facilities and courtrooms to replace the existing system. The Urban Land Institute (ULI) was hired to analyze the city's current detention and court facilities, assess various options, and offer recommendations. ULI, whose expertise is the responsible use of land in order to enhance the total environment, employs real estate developers, financiers, urban designers, architects, and public officials. In addition to ULI's report, a policy assistant to the Mayor's Office reported to the task force on an analysis of five recently constructed urban justice facilities in five States. The task force's final report contained a unanimous recommendation that a new justice center be built, because of the unsafe, crowded conditions of the current facilities. The City Council decided that the task force's recommendation would be placed on the May 3, 2005, ballot for a vote by the citizens. This article outlines the proposal that was presented to and passed by the Denver voters. Following the vote, the major involved citizen representatives in the design of the justice center. Based on citizen input as well as the expertise of architects and urban designers, the justice center complex was designed to be both functional and appropriate for the Civic Center District where it is to be located. The features of the design are reported in this article. The architects were selected through a design competition in December 2005.