Built in 2017 the San Diego Courthouse is a state of the art facility comprised of courtrooms, administration offices, clerk, jury, security, and holding spaces. The building was designed to meet enhanced seismic performance objectives per the California Trial Court Facility Standards (CTCFS, 2011). Being a critical facility, located near a fault, and in an area of high seismicity, the building will very likely experience high seismic loads during the structures’ lifetime. While the special steel moment frames served as the primary lateral force system and provided architectural flexibility; dampers were used to reduce story forces, drift, and floor accelerations from both wind and seismic loads in the narrow direction of the building.