Now, with the courts reopen for in-person business, Chief Justice John Minton said a survey of attorneys found that they favor virtual hearings in some cases. Remote hearings will be a permanent part of the court process going forward, he said.
Minton spoke Thursday about how the court system weathered the pandemic to members of the interim judiciary committee. He said the courts were "forced" into using remote technology by the pandemic.
If the pandemic had hit the court system five years ago, "our ability to operate remotely would have been severely curtailed," he said.
In a recent poll of more than 700 attorneys, 90% supported continuing to hold motion hearings on civil cases remotely. More than a third of those attorneys also favored continuing remote hearings on motions in criminal cases and in criminal arraignments, according to the poll.
Minton said doing some hearings remotely would save money, particularly to counties that have to transport inmates from out-of-county jails to hearings.
Minton said judges he has spoken to favor using remote hearings rather than transporting inmates across the state.
In civil cases, remote hearings are "not just a convenience. It's a savings to your clients, and a savings to the system," he said.
Going forward, the court system plans to use funds lawmakers allocated to the courts on technological upgrades. For example, the Administrative Office of the Courts will use $10.6 million to make sure remote hearings are being recorded, as in-person hearings are.
All courtrooms will be upgraded with video arraignment equipment, Minton said. The AOC also plans to invest $2 million to create a portal for people who are representing themselves in court.
"This is a public we are committed to serve, with or without a lawyer," Minton said.
The portal will allow people acting as their own attorney to interact with the courts, receive assistance and file documents, he said.
The goal is to "make the court experience less daunting," he said. A kiosk system will also be created for certain courthouses to allow people to pay fines.
"People expect their court experience to be as seamless as at a bank," he said.
Electronic document filing, which is available but optional, will become mandatory in the future, with the AOC investing $1.1 million in upgrades, Minton said.
In terms of new cases, April saw a dramatic increase in criminal indictments due to the return of in-person grand juries across the state.
"Circuit criminal cases in fact doubled from March to April," Minton said. "I'm told it's the highest month of criminal cases recorded in the history of the court system."
Filings of other types of cases haven't rebounded yet. Minton said new juvenile criminal cases are only 70% of their pre-pandemic level, and small claims filings are half of what they were before COVID-19 caused the court system to curtail operations.
Family court filings, and new criminal cases filed in District Court, are back to where they were before the pandemic, Minton said.
"Things are getting back to normal" in those areas, he said.
© 2021 the Messenger-Inquirer (Owensboro, Ky.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
