Judicial emergency orders are extended
By JEFF STITT
jstitt@yourmvi.com
Falling in line with the state Supreme Court, president judges in Allegheny, Washington and Westmoreland counties have issued declarations extending judicial emergency orders.
The signing of those declarations means most courts in the area will stay shuttered through at least the end of April.
In response to COVID-19 mitigation efforts, the high court on March 18 issued a judicial emergency order that was slated to last through April 14. It granted president judges in judicial districts across the commonwealth the power to declare judicial emergencies and suspend time calculations and deadlines on court cases and other judicial business, subject to constitutional restrictions, if the president judges deemed it necessary.
The state Supreme Court order also gave county judges the power to utilize video and telephone “advanced communication technologies” to conduct some court business, and issued another order extending the order through “at least April 30.”
The order states that the extension came at the request of Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine, who “urged the Supreme Court to extend the statewide closure of the courts, except for essential services, for a period of approximately one additional month to further restrict the amount of person-to-person contact and mitigate the spread of COVID-19.”
Allegheny
County
On Monday, President Judge Kim Berkeley Clark extended the emergency order for the Fifth Judicial District judicial in Allegheny County through May 8.
“In recognition of the likelihood that this judicial emergency may, of necessity, be extended through May 31, 2020, it is further ordered that any case postponed due to this emergency be scheduled after May 31,” Clark wrote in the order. “Cases that can be resolved entirely through the use of advanced communication technology may be postponed to a date prior to May 31.”
The district’s Emergency Operations Plan states that until further order of court, the Family Law Center is closed to the public, as are courtrooms and offices on the seventh and eighth floors of the City-County Building, the housing court help desk, the Orphans’ Court Division in the Frick Building and the Criminal Division courtrooms and offices in the Allegheny County Courthouse. Pre-trial conference and formal arraignments in the criminal division are suspended.
Magisterial district courts are closed to the public and case schedules have been postponed. Pittsburgh Municipal Court Arraignment Division will remain open to the public for emergency protection from abuse orders in the county.
Magisterial judges are remotely issuing search warrants and handling criminal complaint filings, bail hearings and arrest warrant requests.
Building security and Allegheny County sheriff’s deputies assigned to any courthouse or court facility “are authorized to deny admission to or remove a person who is visibly ill or who is exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19, provided that they provide such person with information (telephone number or email address) to enable them initiate, participate in or complete necessary essential court business/functions during the judicial emergency,” the operations plan states.
“Essential court business” will be permitted in court facilities, but friends and family members may be required to wait outside the facility. The sheriff’s deputies have the authority to limit the number of persons entering or remaining in a court facility.
Any existing orders for fingerprinting and the requirement for fingerprinting, except for admission into the Allegheny County Jail, are suspended. No inmates or juveniles will be transported from state correctional facilities, county jails or prisons, Shuman Detention Center or Hartman Shelter.
In the civil division, jury and non-jury trials are suspended, but the court is still processing emergency motions and some general motions.
To learn more about specifics in the emergency management plan, visit www.alleghenycourts.us/Home/Default.
Westmoreland County
Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court President Judge Rita Hathaway on Monday extended the current reductions of court functions until April 30.
The order cancels all trials scheduled in April, as well as other basic court functions such as pre-trial motions, in-person pleas and arguments.
Courts will continue to hear emergency matters such as injunctions and stay requests, mental health reviews, guardianships, emergency bail filings, bench warrant and detainer hearings, search warrants, juvenile detention hearings, protection from abuse hearings and emergency family court matters.
Most bail hearings over the last three weeks have been conducted via video with inmates who are incarcerated at the county jail. District judges will continue to be allowed to hold preliminary hearings for jailed defendants.
Protection from abuse petitions and hearings will continue to be processed in a courthouse conference room near the building’s front lobby. Family court judges appear at those hearings by video.
More information can be found at www.co.westmoreland.pa.us/528/Courts and on the county website’s emergency alert website.
Washington County
Washington County President Judge Katherine B. Emery declared a judicial emergency in the 27th Judicial District from March 16 to April 14, and has extended that order to be effective through May 1.
Judges are encouraged to use video and telephone communication technology to conduct court proceedings.
Emery’s order states that the county courthouse, the Family Court Center and all magisterial courts are closed through May 1.
Entrance to court facilities will continue to be limited to legal counsel, necessary participants and people with a legitimate business need.
Those with questions about their cases are encouraged to contact their attorney. Anyone who does not have an attorney and has questions should contact the court or office they are scheduled to appear before. All other inquiries should be directed to the Court Information Desk at 724-228-6999.
Attorneys, litigants and members of the public are urged to refrain from attending any judicial facility unless necessary, a message from the courts states.
Those scheduled for jury duty April 13 are not required to appear.
As a result of Emery’s order, the court administrator’s office is responsible for supervising Magisterial District Courts, the court technology department, development of the annual court calendar, probation services department, the law library, arbitration system, court personnel, equipment and facilities, divorce and custody cases and personnel and preparation of the court’s budget, civil and criminal trial lists, annual report and statistical information.
Trib Total Media News Wire Services contributed to this report.
