County OKS the Forum as court annex
♦ When in-person hearings resume, the facility has room to ensure COVID-19 safety protocols.
As a way to safely conduct court amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Floyd County Commission passed a resolution making the Forum River Center an annex for the Floyd County Judicial Circuit.
Legally, a governing body must adopt a resolution to designate a space for court proceedings.
“This is a measure we’re looking at in anticipation of what might be coming down the road,” Superior Court Judge Jack Niedrach said during the board’s pre-meeting caucus.
Niedrach said the courtrooms at the Judicial Center aren’t big enough to properly accommodate social distancing guidelines for jurors, judges, attorneys and other necessary persons to conduct court.
“There is going to be, even after all the restrictions are lifted, a general inclination to avoid tight crowds,” the judge said. “We certainly don’t want jurors to feel uncomfortable, we don’t want the public to feel uncomfortable and we don’t want lawyers to feel uncomfortable either.”
By using the Forum — specifically the ballroom, conference rooms and the arena if necessary — court will be able to take place with people staying at least 6 feet away from each other.
Back in March, Georgia Chief Justice Harold Melton issued an emergency order directing all court systems to only perform essential functions.
“He loosened that somewhat a week or two ago to allow nonessential functions to be handled over video conference,” Niedrach said. “That order will expire May 14.”
The judge said that Melton will be giving court systems more details about going back to in-person court hearings in the coming weeks.
Niedrach and other judges decided to begin preparing, starting with the resolution to make the Forum River Center a temporary court annex.
County Manager Jamie Mccord said that with recent cancellations, the Forum doesn’t have any major events coming up and has many different rooms that can serve as courtrooms for the time being.