Following an announcement Monday that Christian Circuit Judge John Atkins had tested positive for COVID-19 over the weekend, Circuit Court Clerk Paige Parker said most cases in his court will continue as scheduled via Zoom conferences.
“It’s going to be normal for us,” Parker said. “It’s just going to be done virtually.”
Atkins’ office assistant, Marilyn Sanders, said attorneys and their clients may still appear in the judge’s courtroom for hearings. They will see the judge on a video screen at the bench.
Parker said all of the judges are also giving attorneys the option of having their clients appear through a Zoom link. In addition, most jury trials are being delayed.
While Atkins is in isolation and working from home, Sanders is quarantined because she was a direct contact of the judge. Sanders said the judge described his symptoms as feeling like he had the flu.
On Oct. 29, Kentucky Chief Justice John D. Minton Jr. provided guidelines that said courts in red zone counties should delay jury trials, said Parker. Christian County remains in the red zone, which is a community with a coronavirus incidence rate of 25 or greater.
Previously, the county’s circuit and district court judges had decided they would delay all jury trials until after the first of the new year, with the exception of Atkins, who said he would make that determination on a week-by-week basis if any litigants requested a jury trial, said Parker.
A maintenance worker arrived early today at the Christian County Justice Center to sanitize Atkins’ courtroom and offices, along with a corridor used by the judges, said Parker.
Since the pandemic began, the justice center has been closed only once because of the virus. That was done out of an abundance of caution early in the pandemic after the family member of an employee tested positive, she said. In another case, one employee in the circuit clerk’s office has tested positive, but is back at work now.
“We are back at 100% of our staff,” Parker said.
The justice center is following guidance from state judicial officials to help curb the potential for coronavirus infections. Employees in the circuit clerk’s offices are divided into two teams, and their arrival times at work are staggered to ensure social distancing. Everyone has a temperature check when they arrive. Everyone wears a mask in the office, and interactions have been reduced, she said.
“They are doing an excellent job,” Parker said. “We are trying our best to make sure everyone feels comfortable.”
(Jennifer P. Brown is the editor and founder of Hoptown Chronicle. Reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org.)
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
