JUVENILE – IN PERSON COURT HEARINGS (EFFECTIVE MAY 12, 2022)

JUVENILE - IN PERSON COURT HEARINGS (EFFECTIVE APRIL 11, 2022, AMMENDED May 13, 2022) Court News Daily Schedule Juvenile Court News From the Bench Michelle Honey Tuesday, 29 March 2022 228 Hits

The recent and sustained precipitous decline in COVID infections, combined with the rescission of the mask mandate, signal the time to return to more in-person court hearings. Below please find specific information organized by docket.

JUVENILE OFFENDER DOCKET

Beginning Monday, April 11, 2022, all youth, attorneys for youth, prosecutors, and probation counselors are required to attend court in-person.

SAFE AND ITC COURT

Beginning Monday, April 11, 2022, all SAFE and ITC Court participants, their attorney(s), and probation counselors will attend court in person. Treatment providers and other SAFE Court team members may attend court hearings via Zoom.

HOPE COURT

Beginning Monday, April 11, 2022, all participants of HOPE Court will attend court hearings in person. Treatment providers, attorneys, and other HOPE Court team members are permitted to remotely participate in pre-docket and the HOPE court docket via Zoom.

DEPENDENCY DOCKET

Beginning Monday, April 11, 2022, all attorneys (parent, AAG, and dependent children) are required to attend the dependency docket in person. Parents, child advocates (CCCA), guardians ad litem (GAL), and interpreters involved in dependency proceedings may appear either in person or via Zoom.

TRUANCY

All truancy proceedings shall continue to be conducted via Zoom.

AT RISK YOUTH

Beginning Monday, April 11, 2022, all youth, attorneys, and probation counselors are required to attend court in-person. Parents may attend in-person or via Zoom. Based on individualized circumstances, the probation officer may excuse a youth from attending in-person and participate via Zoom.

FACT FINDINGS

Fact findings, both offender and termination matters, will be  held in-person. Fact findings for dependency matters may be held in-person or via Zoom, which location will be determined at time of readiness hearing.

UNIVERSAL READINESS

All universal readiness hearings will continue to be conducted via Zoom.

ADOPTIONS

Beginning Monday, April 11, 2022, adoption hearings will be held in-person at the juvenile courtroom. For those who cannot attend in-person, they may participate via Zoom.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Seating inside the courtroom will be available for attorneys, probation counselors, CCCA/GAL, and a limited number of spectators. The lobby area will serve as a waiting/staging area. While in the court room, all participants are required to wear a facial mask. All dockets and fact findings will continue to have a hybrid component (a Zoom option) to allow for judicial officers to participate remotely.