Courts getting backed up from virus’s restrictions

By Larry Tucker
editor@wood.cm
Posted 5/7/20

The judges at all levels in Wood County have been staying busy planning for the anticipated opening of their respective courtrooms.  

Catherine Clayton, county court administrator for Wood …

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Courts getting backed up from virus’s restrictions

Posted

The judges at all levels in Wood County have been staying busy planning for the anticipated opening of their respective courtrooms. 

Catherine Clayton, county court administrator for Wood County Judge Lucy Hebron, said they were preparing to line up with the Office of Court  Administration (OCA).

“We are in the process of preparing the second temporary order which will line up with what the OCA has issued in their guidelines,” Clayton explained. “This will extend until June 1. We are not supposed to have any hearings other than essential hearings. We have started our probate hearings by Zoom. Those are live-streamed on our You Tube channel. She (Judge Hebron) has deemed the inmates who have already entered pleas of guilty as essential hearings. We will be having those as needed. The rest of the criminal docket is a little bit on hold right now until we can figure out a way to have the hearings or we have to wait until after the June 1 date.”

Justice of the Peace Precinct 1 Tony Gilbreath is waiting patiently to get things going in his court. “We have to follow the OCA and the Texas Supreme Court because of the restraints we have as far as hearing cases. We are getting calls about evictions. Right now you can’t even file an eviction,” Gilbreath said. “Right now we are hoping to get started May 18. Right now people can make a payment online or they can call up here and do a credit card over the phone. All our cases are non-essential.”

Gilbreath talked about juvenile problems.

“If you are a juvenile and get a ticket you have to come in with your parents. We have done those by Zoom. The problem with the Zoom is all parties have to have the stuff to be able to do it. We are just kind of on hold right now,” Gilbreath observed.

Criminal District Attorney Angela Albers is also ready to get back in court.

“I just got an email from the court and our first felony jury trial is scheduled for the week of June 29.  My office has everyone back full-time and we have Grand Jury coming up a couple of times in May,” Albers noted. “We just took a break from the Grand Jury in April. We have been reviewing a lot of cases to be ready when things get back in full swing.”

District Judge Jeff Fletcher is ready to get his court opened back up.

“The first jury trial is scheduled for the third week of June on June 23 and that is subject to OCA. They are shooting for June 1, but I don’t think that is realistic possibility,” Fletcher noted. “The first criminal trial is June 29. We have reset things many times already, but things keep changing. We keep moving things back and try to schedule based on the OCA instruction. As much as we want it, there are really not any firm answers as to when because we are subject to what the governor says. We are hoping to get things rolling by the middle to the end of next month.”

Lauren Doane is the municipal court judge for the City of Quitman.

“According to the OCA courts aren’t allowed to have hearings until June 1 at this point. As far as what we are able to do on normal court business I’m completely functional,” Doane said. “I can take pleas, set up a payment plan and take payments, all of the normal duties of the municipal court. We are a little more lenient on payments right now. Right now I just want to be available. My customers are just as worried as everybody else. People need to feed their families and pay their bills and we understand that.”