Humboldt County Superior Court Shuts Down Trials Due to Spike in COVID-19 Cases

EUREKA, Calif. (KIEM) – The Humboldt County Superior Court says it is pushing back criminal jury trials because of the pandemic.

The court had to completely shut down in March for 3 days, and were not able to have jury trials until August. Since then, the court has held one to two cases at a time to prevent spreading the disease.

However, the court recently received an emergency order to postpone all criminal jury trials that are scheduled between December 8th and January 19th, after 83 cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Humboldt County over the weekend.

The court executive officer, Kim Bartleson, says, “…the risk associated with bringing large numbers of people into small area court facilities puts everybody at risk because of the possibility that someone could be infected with COVID. It’s a balance of public safety with access to justice.”

The court is now double booked and will be dealing with a larger case load in January of next year.

-Paid Advertisement-