Throughout the entire coronavirus stay-at-home order, courthouses in Arizona and locally in Coconino County have remained open. Government in general is classified as essential but the courthouses go a step further because they are our access to justice in the United States. The Coconino County courthouses take their instructions from a statewide judicial administrative order but the chief administrative judge for each county also has authority to further mandate how courthouses in their jurisdiction will function during coronavirus. The judges in Coconino County have individual discretion to decide what proceedings are going forward, which ones are postponed, and whether parties and their attorneys may appear in person or virtually. They are under a new administrative order from the Supreme Court that is statewide. No jury trials are to happen before June 15th at the earliest. Realistically, as of this moment, no jury trials will happen until July at the earliest because the clerks office has to send out jury summons for a date 3 weeks in advance and as of today (June 4th) they have not sent any out.
Many Coconino County court proceedings are still happening, at least the criminal ones are – arraignments, initial appearances, preliminary hearings, bail reviews, sentencings, violation of probation hearings, fugitive from justice hearings, and pretrial motions hearings specific to each individual case. If you are charged with a crime, you have the right to be present for all of these proceedings so you may appear in person if you demand it or appear virtually. Bench trials where the judge, not a jury, decides whether the County Attorney has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the person charged committed the crime alleged are still happening. What is not happening at least through May 31st are jury trials. The courthouse does anticipate the prohibition of jury trials being extended even longer into the summer.