Federal Courthouse in Tuscaloosa to be renamed for Richard Shelby

The U.S. Courthouse and Federal Building in downtown Tuscaloosa will be renamed on Friday, September 15, for former U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-Alabama).

A ceremony will be held at 2:00 p.m. on September 15 inside the courthouse at 2005 University Blvd. to officially rename it the Richard Shelby Federal Building and Courthouse.

Shelby, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, and other officials and dignitaries are expected to attend.

L. Scott Coogler is the Chief U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Alabama.

“Many years before construction began on the Tuscaloosa Federal Building and Courthouse in December 2009, Senator Shelby foresaw how important this building would be, not only to the federal court system but also to the citizens of Alabama,” said Judge Coogler.

Shelby was honored by the West Alabama Chamber of Commerce during their annual awards banquet in February.

“As he has done with so many other worthy causes that have benefitted the state of Alabama, Senator Shelby worked tirelessly to secure funding for this building,” Coogler added. “Without question, this building should bear his name.”

President Joe Biden signed the legislation to rename the federal building in March 2022. The Courthouse houses the U.S. District and Bankruptcy courts, including courtrooms and support spaces, the U.S. Probation Office, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Senator Katie Britt’s Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the General Services Administration, and the Social Security Administration.

The Alabama Legislature and Gov. Ivey honored Shelby with a special joint meeting of the Legislature in the historic 1859 House Chamber, where he served as a state legislator.

Ivey said, “We are here today, honoring a friend to all of Alabama. To Richard Shelby, I say welcome home. We are honored to have you back.”

“He is the state’s longest-serving Senator at 36 years,” Ivey said.

Ivey said that out of all the great senators the state of Alabama has had, they have been “eclipsed by Senator Shelby.”

Ivey praised Shelby for having steered hundreds of millions of dollars in engineering and sciences funding to Alabama colleges and universities, as well as Redstone Arsenal, the Port of Mobile, and other projects across the state.

“We wish you the best, and we proudly welcome you back to our sweet home Alabama,” Ivey concluded.

Lieutenant Governor Will Ainsworth said Shelby “should be forever known as Alabama’s greatest builder.”

“Perhaps the most important and lasting thing that Richard Shelby has built is his legacy,” Ainsworth said. “His legacy will be felt long after Richard Shelby and all who gather in this room have passed by generations of Alabamians not yet born.”

Shelby was a city prosecutor for the City of Tuscaloosa. He then became a special assistant Alabama Attorney General. He represented Tuscaloosa in the Alabama State Senate District from 1970 to 1978. In 1978, he was elected to represent Alabama’s Seventh Congressional District. He served four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1986, he was elected to the U.S. Senate. He served six terms in the Senate, ending his decades of public service in 2022.

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