Chief Justice Cheri Beasley declared an order on Nov. 16 extending emergency directives in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Public health precautions will remain in place as the court system continues to increase operations. District attorneys all across North Carolina agree that the pandemic has required them to drastically alter the way they prosecute cases, schedule trials, and run their offices.
Scheduling trials has not been easy since the beginning of COVID. Various court hearings continue to be held remotely using teleconferencing tools. Traffic tickets can be handled entirely online without coming to court, and some court filings can be prepared online with the court system’s new Guide and File service. The public is encouraged to handle their business as much as they can online.
Jim Mixson, the Iredell County Clerk of Superior Court, said he too had felt the increased burden of COVID-19 even though the number of cases filed has dropped. His office has re-scheduled between 35 and 40 jury trials since the beginning of the pandemic. Because the courthouse doesn’t have enough room to correctly socially distance, the court is partnering with the county’s school system to hold trials in an old gymnasium until the COVID restrictions are lifted.
District Attorney Trey Robison states one felony case was delayed because the defense attorney was quarantined, and another couldn’t be tried because someone in the defendant’s household caught COVID-19.
DA Ashley Hornsby Welch serves the 43rd Prosecutorial District, covering Haywood, Jackson, Macon, Cherokee, Clay, Swain, and Graham counties in the state’s southwestern corner. She states that her office has been dismissing low-level traffic citations and other infractions. Doing so helped reduce foot traffic across the seven-county courthouses where her office operates.
After more than eight months without any jury trials, Union County held their first Superior Court trial the first week of December. Further complicating matters, the number of people who were summoned for jury duty but showed up has reduced. Trey Robison theorizes that some prospective jurors stay away because they are worried about exposing themselves to the virus.
The Union County courthouse doesn’t have rooms big enough to social distance all potential jurors. Instead, several separate jury pools had to be called.
Help Keep the Public and Court Staff Safe
By the Chief Justice order, courts are operating with reduced capacity, and only people with business at the courthouse will be allowed to enter. Masks are required in all courthouses. Filings are encouraged to be mailed or through online services.
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