*** TEMPORARY OPERATING PROCEDURES FOR COUNTY COURT NO. 2 ***
As most of you are aware, the Office of Court
Administration recently issued new mandates in response to covid. The following provisions are an effort to
balance continuity of service with community safety. We appreciate your
understanding and cooperation.
Effective January 4, 2021, the Courts will begin
coverage on a rotating schedule. There will always be one County Court
available at the courthouse during business hours. The other Courts will be
operational and available from a remote location. This is an attempt to limit
the number of people at the courthouse. Until further notice, the Court is best
accessible via email or telephone.
In compliance with the OCA instructions, County
Court No. 2 is implementing the following rules on a temporary basis, effective
January 4, 2021:
HEARINGS
ALL hearings and bench
trials will occur electronically, via Zoom or LifeSize, unless otherwise
approved in advance by the Court.
Attorneys will receive a Zoom link for any hearing requested. Attorneys are expected to have the ability to
participate in hearings electronically.
Attorneys
should prepare their witnesses to appear electronically.
In
person hearings will be permitted only if a Party does not (and cannot) have
the ability to participate
electronically.
All
exhibits must be exchanged and emailed to the Court Reporter, at least 24 hours prior to hearing.
It is the responsibility of the Attorney/Party
requesting the hearing to notice, in
writing, the opposing party. Proof of delivery of notice must be filed
with the appropriate clerk or brought to court at the time of setting.
MISDEMEANOR
DOCKETS
Cases involving Defendants with Counsel should
appear electronically on their assigned court date. No personal appearance by
the Defendant or his/her Attorney is required once a letter of representation
has been filed. In keeping with the OCA
requirements, Attorneys may not make a
personal appearance in the Coordinator’s office to discuss their cases.
Instead, the
Attorney of Record should:
(1)
Discuss the case
with the Assistant District Attorney assigned the case prior to noon on their date of setting;
and,
(2)
An email should
be sent to the Court (through the Coordinator and copying the ADA) notifying
the Court of case status before 5:00 p.m. on the docket date. The email shall notify the Court of any
future action needed to progress the case forward.
If a reset
is requested, the email must state the reason for the reset. A case shall not receive multiple resets for
the same reason. A request for resets
in excess of three (3) must be approved by the Judge.
It is the responsibility of the Attorney of Record
to contact the Prosecutor, review the case file and notify the Court of case
status. Court Prosecutors shall make
themselves available to discuss cases prior to the docket setting.
Failure to follow the appearance procedure stated
above will result in the case being reset on the Court’s docket for mandatory
electronic (Zoom) appearance for both the defendant and the defense counsel
within 3–5 days. Failure to appear for the mandatory
electronic appearance date shall result in forfeiture of the bond and a warrant
for the defendant.
(3)
In the
event that personal appearance is required,
the Attorney of Record shall notify the Court Coordinator in advance and
arrangements will be made for the hearing to occur via personal appearance.
Only the Defendant and his/her Attorney of Record will be allowed in the
courtroom. Defendants shall not bring
guests into the courthouse with them.
DISPOSITION
DOCKET
When a case is ready for disposition, the Attorney
shall notify the Court Coordinator; and they will be assigned a mutually
acceptable court date. The Disposition
docket is held by assignment
only. The assigned
date/time is specific for your plea. The
Attorney shall have the necessary documents (all plea paperwork) completed and
submitted to the clerk at least one hour prior to their designated hearing
time. Please, do not be late, as that
will negatively affect others waiting for hearings. The Attorney and Defendant will appear, via
Zoom, from the attorney’s office (or from some other outside location) for the
disposition hearing.
Following
the hearing, the Defendant will have 24 hours to appear in court and be
fingerprinted. The Court will not sign
the order until the Defendant has been fingerprinted. Failure by the Defendant to appear within 24
hours will result in a warrant being issued.
Failure to timely complete plea documents will
result in the plea being moved to the end of the docket, which will likely be
the afternoon.
If the Attorney needs an “in person” disposition
setting due to exceptional circumstances, arrangements can be made with the
Court in advance.
UNREPRESENTED
DEFENDANTS
Unrepresented defendants will be placed on the bond
docket. Only the Defendant will be
allowed into the courtroom. If Counsel
is hired before the unrepresented docket, they should notify the Court
Coordinator of their representation before 9:00AM.
PRE-TRIAL
DOCKETS
The pretrial docket will be held on Friday, ten
(10) days prior to the trial date. Uncontested
Pre-Trial hearings shall occur by Pre-Trial Report.
In
the event that you have contested issues which require the Court’s
intervention, please email the Court Coordinator; and we will arrange for a
Zoom Pre-trial hearing.
With regard to the filing and hearing of motions,
the Docket Control Orders are the controlling instrument. Failure to comply with the DCO may result in
the exclusion of evidence or witnesses at trial.
In a criminal case, failure to comply with the DCO
by Defense Counsel may result in a waiver of Pre-trial issues or
objections. Failure to comply with the
DCO by the State may result in the exclusion of evidence.
AWAITING
FELONY DOCKET
The
Awaiting Felony Disposition Docket is generally administrative in nature. There
is no requirement for attendance on this docket. If a Defendant is represented by an Attorney,
the Attorney may communicate a reset to the Court; or the Court will see the
new felony date in the system and move the AFD date accordingly.
FAMILY/CIVIL DOCKET
Hearings
on the Family and Civil dockets are held by appointment only. A case must be set on the docket by the Court
staff. All trials and motion hearings shall occur electronically.
If a
case is set for a “deadline to complete,” the case will be dismissed for
failure to appear if no appearance is made by Petitioner or Plaintiff at the
setting.
It is
the responsibility of the party filing the motion or requesting the hearing to
notice, in writing, the opposing party.
Proof of delivery of notice must be filed with the appropriate clerk or
brought to court at the time of setting.
Uncontested Family Cases, with legal representation, shall be finalized
by affidavit.
JURY TRIAL
At this
time, Jury Trials are unaffected by the new mandates. The County Courts plan to
resume jury trials on a rotating basis on or about January 19, 2021.
STATUS CONFERENCES
Status
Conferences will be held by report. The
status report should be filed or sent to the Coordinator before the status
conference setting. A copy of the status
report is located on the Court’s website under “Forms and Documents.”
Pro Se litigants shall appear at the date and time
specified on their notice.
Again, we in County Court No. 2 appreciate your
understanding and cooperation.