While the coronavirus didn’t entirely stop the wheels of justice from turning in Hays County, efforts to slow the spread of the highly contagious disease have slowed their turning somewhat.
Some functions are due to reopen June 1, along with county buildings. In part to avoid an avalanche when full court functions resume, a lot of the work has been ongoing during and beyond Gov. Greg Abbott’s stay-at-home order.
“My clerks and I have not closed the office and have been here every day,” said Pct. 2 Justice of the Peace Beth Smith, “so we are caught up with filings, payments and whatever else the public could do telephonically, electronically or visually.”
When her office does reopen to the public, Smith said customers will be required to wear masks and social distancing markers will be in place. “Lobby customers will be limited, so there may be a bit of a wait.”
Smith’s office, like the county’s other justices of the peace, handles evictions, truancy cases, civil cases up to $10,000, traffic and other Class C misdemeanor cases and conducts inquests.
Regarding felony offenses, District Attorney Wes Mau said the grand jury has for the most part continued to meet. “While a couple of the March and April sessions were canceled to avoid violating the social distancing restrictions in place at that time, the Supreme Court’s more recent orders have been permitting remote teleconferencing for grand jurors, and we have been proceeding in accordance with those provisions.”
Mau said more than 375 indictments have been issued since April 1.
While jury trials have been on hold, courts “have been conducting a limited number of Zoom hearings to resolve some cases,” Mau said. “I understand that the courts are currently preparing a plan for resumption of in-person hearings after June 1 in accordance with instructions and guidance from the Office of Court Administration (OCA).
On its website, the OCA says “all reasonable efforts” should be used to conduct proceedings remotely with the exception of jury trials and that non-essential in-person proceedings “of any size” are delayed until June 1. Essential proceedings “should occur in person only if holding the proceedings remotely is not possible or practical.” The OCA defines essential proceedings as “criminal magistration, CPS removal and adversary hearings, temporary restraining orders and injunctions, juvenile detention hearings, family violence and other protective orders and specialty court proceedings.
When essential proceedings must be held in person, no more than 10 persons will be allowed in the courtroom and participants must wear face coverings and practice social distancing.
