After being barred from conducting jury trials since May, Cullman’s courts are preparing to strike their first juries in months, ahead of the resuming of both civil and criminal trials in September.

In order to foster compliance with public health guidelines for social distancing, the Cullman County Circuit Court system is launching a new website to help potential jurors register and complete an initial questionnaire after receiving a jury summons. The first jury summonses for the Sept. 14 court docket were sent out Monday by mail, with potential jurors expected to receive them later in the week. A link to the new website will be provided to potential jurors with the summonses they receive in the mail.

According to presiding Circuit Judge Greg Nicholas, the new website is meant to limit the number and density of people gathering at the courthouse by allowing those who receive jury summonses to complete the first steps toward jury duty without putting in a physical appearance.

“This new process has been developed in response to the current pandemic and will be the first occasion that online jury qualification has been used,” said Nicholas in a press release. “By completing the [web-based] form, potential jurors may now qualify for jury service online and may also request to be excused from jury service for any other recognized exception.”

The new website functions on a variety of devices and is meant to be easy to access, while remaining secure for users. “The new juror registration website may be accessed using either a computer, tablet or smart phone,” the court’s press release states. “Once logged in, each prospective juror will be asked to complete a brief questionnaire.” After receiving a summons, each potential juror can sign in at the secure website with a unique PIN code.

While circuit and district courts’ other functions have been allowed to continue through the pandemic, cases that assemble juries have been temporarily delayed under a May order of the Supreme Court of Alabama. As in other circuits statewide, Cullman’s circuit court has been prevented from setting a jury trial docket until the order expires on Sept. 14.

Nicholas said Cullman’s court system is making changes both at the courthouse and through measures like the new website in order to accommodate residents who’ve been asked to fulfill their civic obligations amid changing times.

“There are many unique challenges associated with conducting jury trials during a pandemic, but preserving access to a trial by jury is constitutionally required. We have implemented new protocols designed to help keep people safe while those trials are being conducted,” said Nicholas.

“But as important as jury service may be, we also recognize that not everyone is able to serve on a jury during the current pandemic, and the law allows individuals to be excused from jury service under certain circumstances. By completing the online juror form, prospective jurors can let the court know about any health concern that would justify excusing them from jury service.”

Jurors who believe they may be at heightened risk of contracting COVID-19 due to age or an underlying medical condition (or another recognized exception) may use the new website’s online form to request to be excused from jury duty, rather than making the request in person. All requests to be excused from jury service in response to summonses received in August should be made no later than noon on Sept. 1.

Residents who receive a jury summons but do not have internet access enabling them to complete the online registration may contact the office of Circuit Court Clerk Lisa McSwain at the telephone number provided in the summons, and will be required to do so before Sept. 1.

The new juror summonses also direct potential jurors to cullmancourts.org, the official court website for Cullman Circuit and District Courts, where additional information is available concerning the new protocols that have been adopted to make jury service safer.

In conjunction with the Cullman County Commission, court officials have adopted a number of new precautionary measures on the 2nd and 3rd-floor court facilities inside the courthouse, ahead of jury trials resuming next month. Those include:

Sanitizing benches and other frequently-touched surfaces before individuals arrive for jury service

Checking each potential juror for fever upon entry to the courthouse

Social distancing measures while in the courthouse

Assigned seating for potential jurors in the courtrooms

Contact-free sanitizing stations outside each courtroom

One-way travel staircases so that visitors do not pass one another when going up and down the stairs

Limitations on the number of people permitted in an elevator at any one time

A newly-configured jury box that will permit jurors to be seated at least six feet away from other jurors

A new jury room that permits jurors to maintain an appropriate social distance during deliberations and recesses.

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