Courthouse / The Law

FAQ: Characters / Support Roles

In reference to the door by the furnace, I noticed it is in some episodes and not in others. The window on that side of the courthouse also appears in some episodes and not in others. That has always caught my attention. Did they make both changes at once?

The "door that led nowhere" was present during the entire first season; the same goes for the "window that's only on the outside." When the second season began in October of 1961, the door had vanished and the window was there, both inside and outside, from that point on. The reason it seems so confusing nowadays is because most of us see several episodes a day, and if you watch more than one channel, you don't see the episodes in the correct order. You might see one from the first season, then one from the fifth, then one from the second, etc.

Is the Green River ordinance a real thing and if it is, can you tell me about it?

Ordinance No. 175.

Be It Ordained by the Town Council of the Town of Green River, Wyoming:

Section 1. The practice of going in and upon private residences in the Town of Green River, Wyoming, by solicitors, peddlers, hawkers, itinerant merchants and transient vendors of merchandise, not having been requested or invited so to do by the owner or owner occupant or occupants of said private residences for the purpose of soliciting orders for the sale of goods, wares and merchandise, and/or for the purpose of disposing of and/or peddling or hawking the same, is hereby declared to be a nuisance, and punishable as such nuisance as a misdemeanor.

Section 2. The Town Marshal and Police Force of the Town of Green River are heareby required and directed to suppress the same, and to abate any such nuisance as is described in the first section of this ordinance.

Section 3. Any person convicted of perpetrating a nuisance as described and prohibited in the first section of this ordinance, upon conviction thereof shall be fined in a sum not less than Twenty-five ($25.00) Dollars or more than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00), together with costs of proceedings, which said fine may be satisfied, if not paid in cash, by execution against the person of anyone convicted of committing the misdemeanor herein prohibited.

Section 4. All ordinances and parts of ordinances in conflict with this ordinance are hereby repealed.

Section 5. It being deemed by the Town Council of the Town of Green River that an emergency exists, this ordinance shall be in force and effect from and after its passage and approval.

Passed this 16th day of November, 1931.

• • The Fuller Brush Co. challenged this case and it was sent to the Supreme Court which upheld the ordinance as valid.

Which direction does the Mayberry Courthouse door face?

The correct answer IS North! The clue I received was the same one Charlie gave. At the end of The Clubmen, Opie, Andy and Barney face the rising sun and turn to face the cells. If that direction was East, the Front door would be on the North side of the building.

The two other episodes that confirm the direction are as follows:

Hot Rod Otis: when Barney gives Otis his driving exam, he draws chalk lines on the floor, and tells Otis to pull up from the west (the west! the west!), and...

Divorce, Mountain Style: when Barney finally succeeds in getting his uncooperative mount to travel east to west, he rides right past Andy's house, which is just a half-block away from the courthouse and on the same side of the street.

How far is the courthouse from Andy's House?

It's only half a block. In many episodes, there are long shots showing Andy's front yard and the yards of his neighbors to the right (as you walk out Andy's front door), and the courthouse is clearly visible at the end of the block. The church was on the corner diagonally opposite from the courthouse, which makes you wonder why Andy drove his family to church. They lived practically right across the street! --Paul Mulik

I was wondering if any of you could tell me of any episode that shows the way up to the mayor's office?

It is never clearly established, but there are clues in a couple of episodes. In The Beauty Contest, we see Andy and Ellie in the mayor's office, then a moment later we see them exit out the side door of the courthouse. Barney also uses this side door when he goes up to and down from the courthouse roof in The Big House. So, from this we can deduce that there must be stairs located off the back room of the courthouse that lead to the mayor's office and the roof.

The courthouse also has a basement (mentioned in The Luck of Newton Monroe). The steps leading down to the basement are on the outside of the building, in the rear. They can be seen in several episodes that show exterior shots of the courthouse. --Paul Mulik