The Resident Magistrate's Courthouse in Bulls, the last courthouse to be constructed in the town, was erected on the corner of Bridge and Dalziell Streets in 1882. The New Zealand legal system was first established by an 1840 Royal Charter that allowed the Legislative Council to make laws for 'peace, order and good government'. The first Resident Magistrates' Courts were established eight years later. By the 1860s the courts were part of a three-tiered court system, which consisted of the Supreme Court, District Courts, and the Resident Magistrates Courts. Resident Magistrates Courts had the power to resolve minor legal disputes. Each resident magistrate was assisted by a clerk appointed by the Governor of the colony, and a bailiff who had the powers of a police constable. Bulls was the Rangitikei County's first township and one of the first towns in the region to have its own court. Tenders for the first courthouse in Bulls were called for in 1864, but due to the excessively high tenders received, construction was not completed until 1865. In the early 1880s, the powers and jurisdiction of the Resident Magistrates Courts were gradually increased, and it is likely that this prompted the construction of the second courthouse in 1882. The new courthouse was built on land that was formally gifted in 1882 to the Crown by licensed victualler Alexander Dalziell, after whom Dalziell Street was named. As the structure appears on Deeds Plan 479, which was certified in late 1882, it is probable that the Courthouse was completed that same year. The Courthouse was located across the road from the local police station. It is likely to have been erected by the Public Works Department, which was then responsible for the construction of courthouses and other government buildings around New Zealand. The single storey, 'L-shaped' building was constructed around a timber frame, clad in weatherboards and roofed in corrugated iron. The building was 30 feet (10.6 metres) wide, by 33 feet (9.14 metres) long. It consisted of three rooms, a rectangular courtroom which extended the length of the building, a magistrate's room, and an office. A small porch sheltered the entrance to the office and courtroom. By the end of the nineteenth century the court system had become essentially two-tiered, with the Magistrates' Courts (known as the Resident Magistrates' until 1893), acquiring wider and more extensive powers. Yet as the Bulls Courthouse records prior to 1911 have been misplaced, much of the history of the building during this period remains unclear. In 1921 concern was expressed at the dilapidated state of the building by the Clerk of Court. General repairs were carried out in 1930, and in 1940 electricity was installed when the clerk gave notice that he was forced to rely on candlelight when doing court work in evenings. On 31 May 1951 the courthouse's license to practice as a magistrates' court was revoked, and sittings were discontinued. Its records were taken to the court house at Marton, and the building, valued at £70:1:4, was acquired in July of that year for use as a police station. From 1958, the New Zealand Playcentre Association established a playcentre in the main courtroom. The police continued to use what had been the office until 1965, when the new police station was completed on the opposite side of the street. The Playcentre functioned until 1990, when other kindergarten facilities in the town forced its closure. The building is now part of a local purpose reserve managed by the Rangitikei District Council, and has been leased to a variety of business enterprises since 1992.