Oktibbeha County Circuit Court looks very different this term.
Bailiffs are stationed at courthouse entrances taking the temperatures of everyone going in and out of the building. Court staff, defendants and other visitors are all wearing masks, and anyone who may have come into contact with COVID-19 coronavirus is having to call the circuit clerk’s office before entering the building.
Perhaps the biggest difference, though, is there are no trials scheduled, thanks to a state supreme court order last month mandating clerks not call jurors to the courthouse before May 18.
“In other words, no cases will go to trial this term,” Oktibbeha County Circuit Clerk Tony Rook said. “That is a significant distinction between this term and ordinary terms of court.”
The supreme court emergency administrative order was one of several issued in the wake of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic as judges around the state attempt to minimize the number of people gathering at courthouses. It also gave judges discretion to control their dockets and postpone trials, and said attorneys, witnesses and other parties should contact clerks before coming to the courthouse if there is a possibility that they have come into contact with the virus.
Oktibbeha County’s circuit court term began Monday and lasts two weeks, and each term sees an average of 275 cases, Rook said. In a typical term, the majority of those defendants, as well as their attorneys, would be at the courthouse at some point during the two-week period. In trials, the defendant and attorneys would be there along with jurors, witnesses — who often travel from outside the county — and family members.
The lack of trials and the general need to keep as many people out of the courthouse as possible led to defense attorneys filing about 70 requests for continuance on the first day of term alone, said Rook — a significant number “considering where we are in this term.”
“Those cases primarily consist of attorneys whose clients are already out on bond,” Rook said.
Attorneys have shifted their attention this term to pre-trial hearings and plea agreements, especially for those charged with minor felonies that tend to result in little time in prison or none at all.
“The focus is working on the cases that don’t require trial,” District Attorney Scott Colom said. “We have a lot of cases where we figure out a plea agreement … like a case where the person might get probation or pre-trial diversion or drug court. Those cases are usually easier to resolve without a trial.”
Meanwhile, the court’s having to continue most cases involving more serious and violent charges.
“Without the possibility of a jury trial, it’s typically very difficult to get people incentivized to accept … a significant prison sentence,” Colom said. “If somebody’s out on bond and they’ve got a serious charge that’s going to likely result in prison time, it can be difficult to get them to plead guilty knowing that there’s not a possibility of a jury in the interim period. That’s just the reality.”
He said the issue goes beyond the supreme court’s order not to summon jurors. Mississippi Department of Corrections is temporarily not accepting new inmates into its facilities in light of the pandemic.
It’s not just Oktibbeha County affected by the supreme court order. Clay County’s most recent term, which lasted from April 6-17, proceeded without any trials, Colom said, and the order will affect at least the first week of Lowndes County’s term, which begins May 11.
Lowndes County Circuit Clerk Teresa Barksdale said she plans to meet with Sheriff Eddie Hawkins, judges and other court security over the next week to put in place policies to limit the number of people at the courthouse.
It’s a bigger issue for Lowndes County than it is in Oktibbeha County. Lowndes County’s term lasts three weeks and handles between 300 and 350 cases per term, Barksdale said.
On the first two days of term, all defendants are expected to report to the courthouse, along with attorneys and court staff. Even without potential jurors, the crowd typically well exceeds the maximum recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention while the pandemic is ongoing.
“Court will still be going on, but we have not come up with a game plan for the first or second day,” Barksdale said.
Lowndes County’s term lasts until May 29, past the May 18 date in the supreme court’s order, but Colom said area circuit judges may still decide not to summon any jurors until Lowndes County’s next term, which begins in August.
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