CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Administrative Judge Brendan Sheehan on Monday declared a judicial emergency and ordered further curtailing of courthouse operations in an effort to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The four-page order postpones most non-emergency civil court hearings, postpones foreclosure proceedings and sheriff’s auctions for 60 days, and says that anyone who enters the Cuyahoga County Justice Center may be subjected to a health screening and denied entry based on the results of their screening.
Emergency civil hearings, like applications for temporary protection and restraining orders, will continue to take place, the order says.
The order also says criminal hearings will be evaluated on a “case-by-case basis” and urges judges to use video and telephone conferencing whenever possible.
“We are taking extraordinary measures to limit the amount of people coming into the courthouse,” Sheehan said in a phone interview. “We can’t close our building, but we can limit access for people who have non-essential business in the court."
The move is in addition to several other steps the court has taken to curtail operations, including postponing jury trials except for cases where a defendant’s speedy trial rights are threatened, and holding the first Saturday court hearings to clear inmates out of the jail.
The Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association on Monday issued a statement calling for all courts in the county to suspend non-emergency hearings over concerns that attorneys, clients and courthouse employees were at risk of spreading the virus.
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