Courthouses across KC adjust hearings due to COVID-19. Possible exposure in KCK court
All bankruptcy proceedings in federal court in Kansas City, Kansas, are being held over the phone and the bankruptcy clerk’s office in the building is closing for two weeks after a person who later tested positive for the novel coronavirus attended a meeting in the building.
According to a news release from the U.S. District Court for Kansas, the person entered the Robert J. Dole Courthouse through the north doors on March 10 and attended a meeting on the first floor of the courthouse. The person had no symptoms of COVID-19 at the time.
The announcement from the federal court is the latest in a string of postponements and cancellations as courts across the Kansas City area react to the rapidly spreading virus. Six cases have been confirmed in Kansas, four in Missouri.
Prisons in Kansas and Missouri have suspended visitation to halt the spread of the virus.
The decisions are being made by municipal, county and federal courts.
In addition to the measures taken in bankruptcy court, all non-emergency hearings or trials before any judge in the District of Kansas are postponed. Emergency hearings will include arraignments, detention hearings, preliminary hearings on revocation of bond or supervised release, and motion and appeal hearings on detention orders.
People who have traveled to high-risk areas or were potentially exposed to the new coronavirus are banned from entering the courthouse.
At the county level, Wyandotte and Johnson counties in Kansas and Jackson County in Missouri have delayed trials and some other hearings.
Jackson County announced Thursday night that between March 16 and March 27, all jury hearings, some hearings that involve a large number of people and high-volume dockets such as landlord-tenant cases, and small claims and full orders of protections will be postponed.
Defendants in the Jackson County jail will attend their hearings through video conferencing.
In Kansas City Municipal Court, hearings set to begin March 16 to April 10 for people not in custody will be pushed to a later date. That excludes proceedings in domestic violence court, drug court, mental health court and veterans treatment court.
In Johnson County, all jury trials and non-essential chapter 61 hearings between March 16 and May 1 will be rescheduled. The county will also not schedule any additonal marriage ceremonies.
In Wyandotte County all jury trials through April 19 will be rescheduled.
Other hearings in all three counties will be held based upon the judges’ discretion.
Edgerton and Liberty have both closed their municipal courts, postponing hearings to a later date.
Blue Springs is postponing all dockets between March 16 and March 27 to a later date. Prisoner arraignments will continue over video conferencing and the court will remain staffed and open.
This story was originally published March 13, 2020 at 7:02 PM.
