Sacramento courts extend coronavirus closures to mid-June; Placer to restart jury trials June 1
Sacramento Superior Court will remain closed until June 12 except for essential services and will restart jury trials in mid-July.
In Sacramento, court operations have been drastically limited in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Courthouses and courtrooms are closed to most judicial business and the criminal hearings allowed to proceed are now livestreamed.
But with reopening dates now established, Sacramento County Sheriff’s court security officers were to begin conducting temperature checks last Friday on those entering downtown Sacramento’s Gordon Schaber Courthouse. Starting this week, all who enter court facilities are required to wear face coverings.
Meantime, jury trials in neighboring Placer Superior Court are scheduled to resume June 1, court officials announced Friday, as the court moves to restore services temporarily shelved during the pandemic.
Placer Superior Court allowed many civil law and motion, family law and probate matters to resume by telephone this week, along with felony and misdemeanor in-custody matters and misdemeanor arraignments.
The modifications are part of what Placer officials called a “staged approach that balances the need to provide access to justice for the community while mitigating potential risks presented by COVID-19.”
Placer County was among the first counties given the green light to unlock businesses under Stage 2 of the state’s phased reopening plan.
Though technically open throughout the statewide stay-at-home order, Placer’s courts in Roseville and Tahoe City have been limited to essential operations.
Some felony pre-trial and post-trial hearings were slated to resume Monday. Misdemeanor driving-under-the-influence and domestic violence pre-trial and post trial hearings begin May 25.
The June 1 restart date for criminal jury trials represents the third phase of the Placer courts’ reopening plan with the launching of a final phase tentatively set for June 15.
Civil trials before a judge instead of a jury are also scheduled to return in June, but Placer officials say civil jury trials likely won’t resume because of the anticipated logjam of criminal trials.
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