XooCode(){

Courthouse

Courthouse is a direct GovernmentBuilding subtype for buildings where court is held: municipal courts, county courthouses, federal courthouses, appellate courts. It has no unique properties, but courthouse pages are among the most-searched civic listings (court dates, jury duty, filing counters, security policies), so the typed classification + rich inherited data is disproportionately valuable.

Key inherited patterns:

  • openingHoursSpecification: clerk's office hours (a different window from courtroom sessions).
  • event: individual court sessions as Event entries when the calendar is public.
  • amenityFeature: security screening, metal detectors, no-phone policies — publishing these proactively reduces turned-away visits.
  • parentOrganization: the court's administering GovernmentOrganization.
  • containedInPlace: the City / State / Country that the court serves.

Full example of schema.org/Courthouse json-ld markup

The markup is verified as valid with Rich Results Test from Google.

Highlight legend:Required by GoogleRecommendedOptional
schema.org/Courthouse
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Courthouse",
  "@id": "https://lackawannacourts.example/courthouse",
  "name": "Lackawanna County Courthouse",
  "url": "https://lackawannacourts.example/courthouse",
  "description": "Seat of the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas. Criminal, civil, family, and orphans' court divisions. Jury assembly room, prothonotary's office, clerk of judicial records.",
  "telephone": "+1-570-555-0280",
  "address": {
    "@type": "PostalAddress",
    "streetAddress": "200 North Washington Avenue",
    "addressLocality": "Scranton",
    "addressRegion": "PA",
    "postalCode": "18503",
    "addressCountry": "US"
  },
  "geo": { "@type": "GeoCoordinates", "latitude": 41.4088, "longitude": -75.6628 },
  "publicAccess": true,
  "isAccessibleForFree": true,
  "openingHoursSpecification": [
    { "@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification", "dayOfWeek": ["Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday"], "opens": "08:30", "closes": "16:30" }
  ],
  "amenityFeature": [
    { "@type": "LocationFeatureSpecification", "name": "Security screening required", "value": true },
    { "@type": "LocationFeatureSpecification", "name": "No mobile phones in courtrooms", "value": true },
    { "@type": "LocationFeatureSpecification", "name": "Wheelchair accessible entrance on north side", "value": true },
    { "@type": "LocationFeatureSpecification", "name": "ASL interpreter available by request", "value": true }
  ],
  "containedInPlace": { "@type": "City", "name": "Scranton" },
  "parentOrganization": { "@type": "GovernmentOrganization", "name": "Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas" }
}
</script>

Minimal valid version

The smallest markup that still produces a valid Courthouse entity. Use it as the floor. Reach for the advanced example above when you want search engines and AI agents to understand more about your content.

schema.org/Courthouse (minimal)
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Courthouse",
  "name": "Lackawanna County Courthouse",
  "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "streetAddress": "200 North Washington Avenue", "addressLocality": "Scranton", "addressRegion": "PA" },
  "telephone": "+1-570-555-0280"
}
</script>

Google rich results this unlocks

Markup matching this example makes your page eligible for the following Google Search rich results. The primary target drives the required / recommended property classification in the advanced code block above.

  • Local business / civic structure knowledge panelprimary
    Google docs

Common Courthouse mistakes

Mistakes that pass validation but silently fail to earn rich results or mislead consumers walking the graph. Avoid these and your markup will be ahead of most sites in the wild.

  1. 01

    Missing security-policy amenityFeature

    Wrong
    Courthouse with no security-screening / mobile-phone disclosures
    Right
    Structured amenityFeature entries for screening rules

    These rules cause most failed courthouse visits. Publishing them structured reduces support burden and ranks better in 'what to bring to court' queries.

  2. 02

    Courthouse used for a lawyer's office

    Wrong
    Courthouse on a private legal practice
    Right
    Attorney / LegalService for practices; Courthouse only for the public court building

    Courthouse is the building where court is held, not where lawyers practise.

Schema properties in this example

CourthouseGovernmentBuildingCivicStructurePlacenameurldescriptiontelephoneaddressPostalAddressgeoGeoCoordinatespublicAccessisAccessibleForFreeopeningHoursSpecificationamenityFeatureLocationFeatureSpecificationcontainedInPlaceCityparentOrganizationGovernmentOrganization

About the example data

Lackawanna County Courthouse, anchoring Dunmore's civic-jurisdiction coverage.

Comments

Loading comments...

Leave a comment