--------------------------------------------------------
Several hundred County and Judicial employees work in the County Courthouse or are required by their work assignments to frequent the Courthouse. As with any other similarly sized employer, it is inevitable that we will have employees who contract this highly contagious virus.
That does not mean they were exposed to the virus in the Courthouse.
There is no cluster within WILLIAM E. BALDWIN, PRESIDENT JUDGE CYRUS PALMER DOLBIN, JUDGE JACQUELINE L. RUSSELL, JUDGE CHARLES M. MILLER, JUDGE JAMES P. GOODMAN, JUDGE CHRISTINA E. HALE, JUDGE D. MICHAEL STINE, SENIOR JUDGE the Courthouse.
That does not mean they were exposed to the virus in the Courthouse.
There is no cluster within WILLIAM E. BALDWIN, PRESIDENT JUDGE CYRUS PALMER DOLBIN, JUDGE JACQUELINE L. RUSSELL, JUDGE CHARLES M. MILLER, JUDGE JAMES P. GOODMAN, JUDGE CHRISTINA E. HALE, JUDGE D. MICHAEL STINE, SENIOR JUDGE the Courthouse.
When we become aware that an employee has tested positive with the virus, we strictly follow CDC guidelines. The employee is instructed by their medical provider to quarantine, and contact tracing is performed by the Human Resources Department. All other employees who have been in close contact with the infected employee will be provided instructions regarding the need to seek medical treatment, to be tested, and to quarantine, as directed by the medical provider.
The CDC has defined close contact as being within six feet of an infected person for 15 minutes or more. That is the definition accepted by the scientific community, and we adhere to it. Merely passing by an infected person does not entail danger unless the infected person is not wearing a mask and coughs or sneezes on the passerby.
Significant safety measures have been put in place to protect our employees and the visitors of the Courthouse. Everyone who enters the Courthouse is subjected to a quick, noninvasive check of his or her temperature upon entering the building. Our security staff who take the temperatures all wear masks. Anyone exhibiting symptoms or refusing to wear a mask is denied entry.
Once inside the Courthouse, employees and visitors are further protected by cleaning protocols adopted to prevent the spread of the virus and by rules imposed by the Court’s Administrative Orders regarding behaviors within the Courthouse.
Courtrooms, offices, restrooms, and common areas are being regularly cleaned.
Movement throughout the Courthouse is being restricted for employees and visitors. Employees are restricted to their offices unless their duties require them to go to another office, and then they must return to their office as soon as those duties are fulfilled. Visitors too must complete their business and depart when finished. Within the offices, protective shields have been erected to safeguard our employees and visitors. Although food and drinks are available in the canteen, no one is permitted to use the tables and chairs formerly available in the canteen area.
Masks are required to be worn in all courtrooms, public meeting rooms, hallways, and other common areas.
Additional precautions have been implemented to protect those called for jury duty.
Jurors do not sit in the jury box nor deliberate in small rooms. The jurors sit in the audience, and only our two largest courtrooms are used for trials so that the jurors may be appropriately social distanced. When it is time to deliberate, everyone but the jurors vacate the courtroom so the jurors may remain socially distanced while they discuss their verdict.
Further, the Court is utilizing video conferencing and Zoom whenever possible for its proceedings to reduce the number of individuals who need to be present in the Courthouse. That technology is also used for all prison inmate procedures, except trials, thereby reducing the need to move an inmate in and out of the prison, and helping to prevent the virus from entering our County jail.
We will promptly inform our employees and the press whenever we become aware of an employee who has tested positive. However, due to privacy rights as guaranteed under HIPAA, we will not identify the employee. Nor will we identify the office where the infected employee works, as that could lead to a HIPAA violation. As previously stated, anyone who has been in close contact with the infected employee will be contacted by the Human Resources Office aspart of the contact tracing process.
Everyone who enters the Courthouse, both employees and visitors alike, should assume that anyone with whom they come in contact could be contagious. By staying behind protective shields that have been erected for our protection, social distancing, wearing masks, and frequently washing hands, all of us can help reduce the spread of the virus.
Significant safety measures have been put in place to protect our employees and the visitors of the Courthouse. Everyone who enters the Courthouse is subjected to a quick, noninvasive check of his or her temperature upon entering the building. Our security staff who take the temperatures all wear masks. Anyone exhibiting symptoms or refusing to wear a mask is denied entry.
Once inside the Courthouse, employees and visitors are further protected by cleaning protocols adopted to prevent the spread of the virus and by rules imposed by the Court’s Administrative Orders regarding behaviors within the Courthouse.
Courtrooms, offices, restrooms, and common areas are being regularly cleaned.
Movement throughout the Courthouse is being restricted for employees and visitors. Employees are restricted to their offices unless their duties require them to go to another office, and then they must return to their office as soon as those duties are fulfilled. Visitors too must complete their business and depart when finished. Within the offices, protective shields have been erected to safeguard our employees and visitors. Although food and drinks are available in the canteen, no one is permitted to use the tables and chairs formerly available in the canteen area.
Masks are required to be worn in all courtrooms, public meeting rooms, hallways, and other common areas.
Additional precautions have been implemented to protect those called for jury duty.
Jurors do not sit in the jury box nor deliberate in small rooms. The jurors sit in the audience, and only our two largest courtrooms are used for trials so that the jurors may be appropriately social distanced. When it is time to deliberate, everyone but the jurors vacate the courtroom so the jurors may remain socially distanced while they discuss their verdict.
Further, the Court is utilizing video conferencing and Zoom whenever possible for its proceedings to reduce the number of individuals who need to be present in the Courthouse. That technology is also used for all prison inmate procedures, except trials, thereby reducing the need to move an inmate in and out of the prison, and helping to prevent the virus from entering our County jail.
We will promptly inform our employees and the press whenever we become aware of an employee who has tested positive. However, due to privacy rights as guaranteed under HIPAA, we will not identify the employee. Nor will we identify the office where the infected employee works, as that could lead to a HIPAA violation. As previously stated, anyone who has been in close contact with the infected employee will be contacted by the Human Resources Office aspart of the contact tracing process.
Everyone who enters the Courthouse, both employees and visitors alike, should assume that anyone with whom they come in contact could be contagious. By staying behind protective shields that have been erected for our protection, social distancing, wearing masks, and frequently washing hands, all of us can help reduce the spread of the virus.
--------------------------------------------------------
The Court's administrative orders mentioned above were issues on June 11th, 2020 and updated on October 4th, 2020 and October 14th, 2020.
The Court has continued to utilize "Advanced Communication Technologies" or "ACT", but in-person proceedings will still be utilized for judicial proceedings that cannot reasonably be conducted with ACT.
The Court also order that everyone must wear a mask or facial within the courthouse and must have their temperature checked before entering.
On October 5th, 2020, Judge Baldwin extended the judicial emergency in the courthouse until January 4th, 2021.
On October 14th, 2020, Judge Baldwin ordered that all employees when entering the courthouse for the first time on a given day, shall only enter through the Public Entrance, Laurel Street entrance, or the North Entrance from the parking lot. If no one is available to have that person's temperature checked, they must report to the person manning the public entrance or Sheriff's Office.