Jury trials in Boulder County are suspended through February.
The 20th Judicial District announced the decision in a web post.
“In consideration of the current circumstances statewide, as well as specific to Boulder County, it has been determined that it is in the interest of public health to suspend all jury trials in the 20th Judicial District through February 26, 2021,” the post states.
Jury trials will resume on March 1.
The move is the latest in a series that have kept jury trials off the docket. Jury trials were first suspended statewide in March by order of the chief justice of the state Supreme Court, which stated “no person shall be required to report for jury service” before June 1.
Another such order was issued in May, calling for no one being required to report for jury service prior to July 6.
In June, another order was issued stating “(n)otwithstanding substantial modifications to public health guidelines and local executive orders, jury pools still cannot be safely assembled in many of the judicial districts and courtrooms throughout the state.”
In November, resumption of jury trials was again pushed, this time into the new year.
In addition, “civil jury trials except for dependency and neglect trials will be continued” to July 19 at the earliest, according to the post on the 20th Judicial District site. Dependency and neglect trials will continue to be set on an ongoing basis for dates after Feb. 26, the post states.
Courts statewide also are dealing with budgetary issues caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The trial courts’ budget was cut by about 10% and the appellate courts by about 25%, Jon Sarché, deputy public information officer for the Colorado Judicial Department, stated in an email last month.
In the 20th Judicial District in Boulder County, the cuts add up the equivalent of 12.9 full-time employees, according to information provided by the Office of the State Court Administrator. Jobs cut include two law clerks, three judicial assistants, a self-represented litigant coordinator and the equivalent of 3½ full-time court reporters. Vacant positions that will remain so include a judicial assistant and the equivalent of 1½ court reporters, according to the state court administrator data.
Statewide, Judicial Department staff reductions total 111, with another 94 vacant positions going unfilled, according to the state court administrator data.
When asked last month, the Colorado Judicial Department could not provide an estimate on the size of a court backlog statewide, but Sarche in his email in December said the department estimates there are about 13,000 cases set for trial over the next 12 months.
