Intelligible speech
Define microphone positions and the audio needed in the room, at remote locations, and at court reporting or recording interfaces. Address confidential conversations, interpretation, and assistive listening as distinct paths.
Independent courtroom AV consulting
Courtroom audiovisual
planning and design.
DCH Technology Consulting helps courts, counties, and architects translate courtroom workflows into coordinated audiovisual systems, clear operating controls, and testable requirements.
Waukesha County Courthouse · Waukesha, Wisconsin
Owner-firstWorkflow-ledIndependent consulting
1Start with the proceeding
Define who needs to hear, see, share, and control.
A courtroom AV system serves people with different responsibilities. The judge and clerk, counsel, witnesses, jurors, interpreters, remote participants, and the gallery do not all need the same information or controls.
Planning begins with court procedures and the decisions operators make during a hearing. Those workflows establish the basis for equipment selection, room coordination, and acceptance.
Legible exhibits and useful views
Evaluate documents, images, and video from the seats where they must be understood. Coordinate display size, camera framing, lighting, and sightlines for both in-room and remote participants.
Controlled presentation
Establish who previews an exhibit, who releases it, and which destinations receive it. Consider material shared through conferencing software alongside sources routed through the courtroom AV system.
Clear status and recovery
Operators should understand what is active, who can hear or see it, and how to stop sharing. Define practical steps for restoring normal operation when a source or remote connection fails.
2Preserve the court’s control
When the court stops sharing, where does the content stop?
A courtroom display, a remote participant, a recording interface, and an authorized media feed may receive content through different paths. Stopping presentation on one screen does not establish what the other destinations receive.
Court procedures should define which outputs are interrupted and which functions remain available. The design must account for sources shared through conferencing software as well as signals routed through the courtroom AV system.
Make control understandable
Distinguish source preview from active distribution. Authorized operators need clear indications of who receives the content, a readily accessible way to interrupt designated feeds, and a deliberate sequence for restoring them.
Resolve the physical interfaces
A clerk’s control panel must be reachable without crowding the work surface. Bench and counsel displays must preserve views of participants. Equipment within courtroom millwork needs connection and maintenance access.
Test the actual destinations
Verify interruption at the remote connection, recording interface, and media handoff included in the scope. Practice recovery with court staff and document discrepancies for correction.
3Representative experience
Representative courtroom experience
Selected courtroom projects from Douglas Hoag’s consulting career.
Waukesha County Courthouse
Waukesha, Wisconsin
Audiovisual system design for the renovation and expansion of the original 1959 courthouse into an approximately 191,000-square-foot facility. The project included courtroom and hearing-room systems and a centralized media room receiving court-selected audio and video feeds for news distribution.
Pierce County Law Enforcement Center and Judicial Addition
Ellsworth, Wisconsin
Provided audiovisual design and integration consulting for the 61,000-square-foot law enforcement center and judicial addition, encompassing courtroom and law enforcement spaces.
Tazewell County Justice Center Annex
Pekin, Illinois
Provided owner advisory services and developed audiovisual requirements with judges, clerks, and representatives of the Illinois Supreme Court system. Documented evidence presentation and judge and clerk control workflows as a basis for subsequent design.
Shawano County Government Center
Shawano, Wisconsin
Front-end audiovisual consulting and owner requirements development for the new Shawano County Government Center, including courtrooms and the county boardroom. Gathered stakeholder input and established operating requirements to inform subsequent systems design.
4Plan the next step
Courtroom Audiovisual Planning and Design
A practical guide for courts and project teams, prepared by Douglas Hoag, Principal Consultant at DCH Technology Consulting.
The guide explores participant communication, architectural integration, media interfaces, annotation, jury deliberation rooms, and workflow verification in greater detail.
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