HILO, Hawai'i — Crime, it's said, doesn't pay. But prosecuting it sure can be expensive.

Big Island taxpayers will see evidence of that Monday morning when Hilo's new $91.7 million courthouse is opened for examination.

Hale Kaulike, or "House of Justice," is the name of the 175,000-square-foot Hilo Judiciary Complex built where the Kaiko'o Mall stood for decades fronting Kilauea Avenue.

The main, three-story structure boasts an underground basement and adjacent, one-story wing. Inside are seven general-purpose courtrooms, two family courtrooms, law library, holding cells, and meeting rooms for witnesses, attorney interviews and grand jury use.

After parking in one of the complex's 400 stalls, members of the public will be able to pay fines or file documents on the first floor. Those requiring District Court services will have to go up one story, while the top floor is reserved for Family and Circuit court functions.

Intended as a replacement for the Hilo State Office Building, located across Aupuni Street, the new complex will house all court services now offered at the state Judiciary's Waiakea Office Plaza and on Kilauea Avenue.

"By consolidating all of our court operations in East Hawai'i into a single efficient, secure, modern courthouse, public safety and service will be greatly enhanced," Third Circuit Chief Judge Ronald Ibarra said in a written statement.

The Judiciary's move out of the Hilo State Office Building was to be completed Friday, said Glenn Okada, district engineer for the state Department of Accounting and General Services. DAGS owns the old building and oversaw construction of the new courthouse, which belongs to the Judiciary.

"There's no other office moving out," he said of the old building in which state taxation, education, human services, labor, agriculture and recreational services are available.

Planning is under way for future use of the space the Judiciary has vacated in the old 108,000-square-foot building constructed in 1969, he said.

"I'm not aware of any firm decisions yet," Okada said Friday.

The Department of Health, Department of the Attorney General and the Office of the Public Defender are among the state agencies that have asked to be relocated into the Hilo State Office Building, he said.

As for the new building, the Judiciary in August 2003 announced preliminary designs for a courthouse it estimated at the time would cost taxpayers $53 million to build, plus $7 million to purchase the old 8.1-acre mall site.

When construction started in March 2005, the courthouse had gained 35,000 square feet and had a new estimated price tag of $86 million.

Okada said the state initially lacked enough money to hire a construction contractor, so it had to redesign the courthouse to save money and avoid having the funding lapse. Then, the Legislature later provided more money, allowing design components that had been cut to be reinstated, he said.

"That's why the construction costs went up," he said.

The final $91.7 million cost excludes $600,000 for two exterior works of art paid for by the state Foundation on Culture and the Arts.

Groundbreaking occurred in March 2005, at which time the Judiciary expected the courthouse to be finished by mid-2007.

That didn't happen.

Additional time was needed to fix punch list items and do more than 200 separate changes. And vandals caused an estimated $25,000 damage to the courthouse in March 2008.

Also, an acoustical problem was discovered earlier this year, namely, the sound of flushing toilets could be heard in the judges' chambers. That problem was fixed by insulating the water pipes, a DAGS official said earlier this month.