Riverside County Courts To Resume Jury Duty In June
RIVERSIDE (CBSLA) — Starting in June, the Riverside County Superior Court will resume summoning jurors for trials in an effort to decrease the number of backlogged cases that have built up in the past two months due to coronavirus closures.
"Cases with constitutional and statutory timeframes approaching will have priority," the Superior Court Executive Office said in a statement.
The court suspended summoning prospective jurors in late March, immediately after eight county courthouses were closed to the public in light of the pandemic.
The Riverside Hall of Justice, the Larson Justice Center in Indio and the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta were all operating with limited hours, though it was not immediately clear which courthouses would resume trials first.
Summons for jury duty will start going out in two to three weeks, and prospective jurors will be asked to complete online questionnaires in advance to reduce their time inside of the courthouse.
Officials said jurors who do report for duty will be required to wear face coverings at all times inside the courthouse, along with courthouse staff, and will be allowed to wait outside courtrooms until their names were called.
Juror assembly rooms would also be rearranged and only a small number of jurors would be seated inside at the same time to promote social distancing.
More information about Riverside County's new jury duty policies can be found on the county court's website.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)
