The Lafayette County Courthouse is located in Oxford, Mississippi and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was constructed in 1872 to replace an earlier building burned during the Civil War.The Courthouse currently houses several judicial courtrooms and related offices, including the Third Circuit Judicial District Court, and the Third Circuit District Drug Court, which both serve Benton, Calhoun, Chickasaw, Lafayette, Marshall, Tippah, and Union counties. The Courthouse also contains the office of the Circuit Court Clerk.According to the court's website, "Mississippi's Circuit Courts hear felony criminal prosecutions and civil lawsuits. Circuit Courts hear appeals from County, Justice and Municipal courts and from administrative boards and commissions such as the Workers' Compensation Commission and the Mississippi Department of Employment Security."As the structural centerpiece to the home of William Faulkner, the Courthouse also plays a significant role in Faulkner's fictional Jefferson County. The Courthouse appears in multiple works. These include stories featuring the lawyer Gavin Stevens (including Knight's Gambit), the dramatic ending to The Sound and the Fury, and elements of Go Down, Moses.
