This year marks the centennial of the dedication of the Lassen County Courthouse. Of course it has under gone numerous changes in the past one hundred years. In September 1978 prison inmate Robert Clawson who was in the courtroom on pending kidnapping charge broke free of the bailiff and fled. He exited the courthouse by jumping out of the window on the second floor landing in the flower bed, From there he ran away, but was later apprehended. From this episode many of the windows were replaced with smaller openings to prevent future escapes.