Nonessential, Nonemergency In-Person Court Proceedings Halted for 30 Days

Today Chief Justice Cheri Beasley entered an order halting most types of court proceedings due to the rising levels of COVID-19. The order was expected. The Chief Justice and McKinley Wooten, director of the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), had issued a memorandum to judicial branch employees on Friday notifying them that the order was coming. The memorandum stated that more than 80 North Carolina counties are experiencing substantial or critical community spread of the virus and that the recent surge of cases and hospitalizations had strained court operations. It further noted that 53 counties had reported court closures during the pandemic, some more than once, and that 11 counties had reported closures in the past week. Today’s order reinstitutes Emergency Directive 1, which previously had expired on May 30, 2020, and extends and modifies other emergency directives. The provisions of today’s order, discussed in more detail below, expire on January 13, 2021. Emergency Directive 1. This directive requires that in-person superior and district court proceedings, including proceedings before clerks of superior court, be scheduled or rescheduled for on or after January 14, 2021 unless one of the following exceptions applies: The proceeding is required by due process (such as a first appearance, bond hearing, or probable cause hearing); The proceeding is to obtain emergency relief (such as a domestic violence protection order, temporary restraining order, juvenile custody order, judicial consent to juvenile medical treatment order, or civil commitment order); or The senior resident superior court judge, the chief business [...]