Local courts won’t exactly be getting back to business as usual, but under new local guidelines in the wake of an order by the Supreme Court of Alabama, at least they can start taking the first steps.

Presiding Cullman County Circuit Judge Greg Nicholas released an order Wednesday that will allow “all in-person court proceedings, other than jury trials” to resume beginning Monday, May 18. 

Nicholas’ order comes in response to a separate order, issued earlier in the day, by the state court, which set May 18 as the start date for local court systems to resume — at the presiding judge’s discretion — docket activity that had been sidelined by Gov. Kay Ivey’s “Safer at Home” order, issued in response to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

“This order essentially gets us started back by Monday of next week,” said Nicholas on Wednesday. “Jury trials, both criminal and civil, have been pushed back until September 14, but other dockets can resume, with some changes that we will be making to accommodate best practices for social distancing.”

While in-person hearings and court appearances will again be allowed starting Friday, activity on the second and third floors of the Cullman County Courthouse will be regulated by guidelines Nicholas outlined in his order. Signs displaying maximum occupancy for each courtroom will be posted near the entrance to each, along with social distancing reminders throughout the courthouse generally. 

No courtroom can contain more people than “the maximum number permitted for the courtroom where the judicial proceeding will be held,” according to the order, although judges will be able to use a nearby courtroom to accommodate spillover attendance “if it is not needed by another judge and is otherwise available.”

Nicholas also ordered that all courtrooms receive a thorough sanitizing at the end of (as well as prior to the start of) each court proceeding in accordance with CDC guidelines. The order also calls for high-contact surfaces “including, but not limited to, courtroom benches, tables, doorknobs, light switches, writing instruments used by the general public, seats, witness stands, computer keyboards, countertops at the court clerk’s filing and payment window, tables, chairs, and all surfaces frequently touched in courtrooms, the court clerk’s area,” to be sanitized regularly throughout the day, depending on their use.

People over age 65 or otherwise at an elevated health risk may also file a request to appear in court by means of videoconferencing technology. Nicholas also ordered that work stations for court clerk employees be separated by barriers or spaced a minimum of six feet apart, and required that masks and other personal protective equipment be provided to any employee whose duties “require the handling of documents, money, checks or other physical objects received from the public.”

 

Nicholas noted that his order could change in the future, depending on how Cullman County’s public health fortunes fare as stay-at-home guidelines soften and health officials monitor COVID-19 cases locally. 

 

“Even within the courthouse and court rooms, there are different sizes and capacities for occupancy to consider, and I’ve taken that into consideration, in collaboration with our other judges,” he said. 

“The state order gives the presiding judges discretion in how to go about resuming court activity, and in speaking with colleagues in other areas of the state, I’ve learned that not everyone is resuming in-person proceedings in their circuits in places where the number of cases is still spiking. We will continue to consult with health officials, our colleagues in the legal community here, and courthouse personnel as we resume activity, and make adjustments as they’re needed.”

Benjamin Bullard can be reached by phone at 256-734-2131 ext. 234.