Kentucky courts closed for month, federal trials delayed to avoid spreading COVID-19
Kentucky’s state court system largely will shut down for the next month to avoid spreading the novel coronavirus among crowds at courthouses, according to an emergency order released by Chief Justice John Minton Jr.
The move — unprecedented in modern history — takes effect Monday and lasts through April 10.
In the federal court system, all civil and criminal trials scheduled to start between March 16 and April 17 will be continued for at least 30 days, Chief U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves said in an order issued Friday.
However, criminal matters before magistrate judges, such as initial appearances on charges, detention hearings and the issuance of warrants, will continue as usual, and all federal courthouses will remain open, according to Reeves’ order.
The courthouses are in Lexington, London, Frankfort, Covington, Pikeville and Ashland.
With the order, the court “seeks to take immediate and necessary precautions to reduce the possibility of exposure to the virus and slow the spread of the disease, to the extent practical,” Reeves said.
In the state court system, all trials and most hearings will be postponed for future dates, Minton said in his order, in which the rest of the Kentucky Supreme Court concurred. Reasonable attempts will be made to reschedule criminal trials as soon as possible given defendants’ constitutional right to a speedy trial.
Certain high-priority hearings still will be held during this time, although judges should use telephone or video technology rather than have people appear in courtrooms, Minton wrote. These include criminal arraignments; preliminary hearings, bond hearings, probation violation and evidence hearings for defendants held in jail; domestic violence hearings; and emergency custody hearings.
“Numerous events are being canceled as public health officials stress social distancing as a way to mitigate the outbreak,” Minton told court officials in a letter accompanying his order. “Because large numbers of people come through our judicial centers each day, we must be do our part to minimize social contact.”
While the chief justice’s desire to protect public health is admirable, there are incarcerated criminal defendants for whom this will be more than a mere inconvenience, said Kentucky Public Advocate Damon Preston, who oversees the state’s public defenders.
“We are concerned about hitting a ‘pause’ button on criminal cases when many of our clients are sitting in jail waiting for their day in court and hoping not to be infected when they have no ability to protect themselves in a cell,” Preston said.
“Our plan is to seek release for every client who is in jail pretrial, presumed innocent,” Preston said. “Much of this will hopefully be accomplished through negotiations with prosecutors or judges who also are concerned about the risks to incarcerated defendants. When that’s not successful, we will seek release through motions and appeals.”
The ACLU of Kentucky issued a statement Friday asking judges and prosecutors statewide to release pretrial inmates who are being held only because they cannot afford bail.
“These new court delays will force Kentuckians who cannot afford to pay bail to remain incarcerated for several additional weeks,” the ACLU said. “People who are incarcerated are unable to practice social distancing and other health safety measures to protect themselves from Covid-19. They will also be separated from their families just as thousands of children and their parents are preparing for schools to close.”
Courtroom attendance when proceedings are held will be limited to attorneys, the parties involved in the case and necessary witnesses, Minton wrote in his order. Security officers will prevent people from gathering outside courtroom doors, and they will enforce “social distancing,” or keeping people apart, within the courtrooms.
Attorneys are encouraged to use electronic filing for court documents rather than travel in person to court clerks’ offices.
Signs will be posted at all public entrances to state courthouses advising people to not enter if they have been diagnosed with the coronavirus; have been exposed to anyone who has tested positive; have traveled to any region identified as high-risk for exposure to the virus; or have symptoms, such as a fever, cough or shortness of breath..
The Kentucky Supreme Court also canceled oral arguments in a half-dozen cases on appeal that it was scheduled to hear next week in its state Capitol courtroom. One of those cases could decide whether the administration of former Gov. Matt Bevin was entitled to serve a subpoena on Frank Lassiter, who worked for Bevin’s predecessor, Steve Beshear, as part of an investigation into a no-bid $3 million contract awarded on Steve Beshear’s last day in office. Those arguments might be rescheduled for April, the court said.
In the federal courts, hearings before district judges also will continue while trials are postponed, and grand juries will continue to meet to consider returning indictments, according to Reeves’ order.
There are deadlines for pursuing criminal cases in federal court.
Based on public health considerations, the delay in cases scheduled to begin in the next month will be excluded from those deadlines, Reeves said in his order.
If a defendant or prosecutors in a case object to the delay, they can ask the presiding judge to reconsider.
This story was originally published March 13, 2020 at 8:39 AM with the headline "Kentucky courts closed for month, federal trials delayed to avoid spreading COVID-19."
