Jury trials will begin again in Stafford County.
The Virginia Supreme Court approved a plan to allow court officials and defense attorneys to resume their pursuit of justice following a temporary halt of jury trials that began in with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in March.
One of the three courtrooms has been converted in order to allow trails to continue. Plexiglass is now installed in the jury box, creating safe barriers between the 12 seated jurors for felony cases, and seven jurors for misdemeanors.
Plexiglass also now separates the judge from the person sitting on the witness stand. The modifications to the courtroom come with increased safety precautions at the court entrance, where everyone has their temperature taken to ensure they’re not running a fever, and where everyone is checked to ensure they’re wearing a facemask.
Representatives from the Stafford County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office, the public defender’s office, and the clerk of the circuit court four weeks ago devised a plan for the modifications that would allow for trials to resume. That plan was submitted to the Virginia State Supreme Court in Richmond and later approved this past week.
The Stafford County Circuit Court Clerk’s Office remained open during the pandemic, so people could access court records, real estate transactions, wills, marriage certificates, and other documents.
“In the beginning, we tried to set appointments to meet with everyone one-on-one, but we couldn’t set enough appointments, so we opened everything back up to the public,” said Stafford County Circuit Court Clerk Kathy Sterne.
Stafford County never stopped mailing jury duty notifications despite the pandemic and the fact that no trials were occurring. Potential jurors were asked to call into an automated recording to learn if their case was proceeding to trial or not.
“It kept us in practice,” said Sterne.
In the General District Court, all cases between March 17 and May 17 were continued, with the exceptions of arraignments, video bond hearings, and protective orders.
The Stafford County Courthouse is located at 1300 Courthouse Road and is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
