Coronavirus in rural America (Part LIV): Rural courts

The Wall Street Journal ran this story a few weeks ago under the headline, "Is Anywhere Safe for a Jury Trial During the Covid-19 Pandemic? Try a School Gym."  Rebecca Davis O'Brien reports from Libby, Montana, population 2,737.  Here's the lede:

In the remote Kootenai Valley of northwestern Montana, the Libby Middle High School gymnasium has always been the main venue for youth sports and awards ceremonies. Beginning next month, it will become a courtroom. 

The gym, home to the Libby Loggers, is perhaps the only place in Lincoln County where 100 prospective jurors can gather with social-distancing and other safety measures to be selected for a domestic-assault trial set to begin June 9—also possibly in the gym. All participants will get regular temperature checks, masks and hand sanitizer; contact with court staff will be limited, and surfaces are to be regularly disinfected. 

“You have some absolute constitutional rights that defendants have—a jury of 12 people, from their community, in a timely fashion,” District Court Judge Matthew J. Cuffe said. At the same time, prospective jurors “have the right to a clean, healthy and safe environment.” 

These extraordinary measures—in a sparsely populated state with the second-lowest confirmed number of Covid-19 cases—illustrate the challenges facing courts around the U.S. as they try to resume jury trials during a public-health crisis.

The story talks about courts in other places, too, including Michigan and Texas, where courts are experiencing with Zoom for jury selection. Then there's this paragraph, which is also rural.

County courts in rural Mississippi have begun mailing jury summonses for trials, advising potential jurors to bring masks and to stay alert for symptoms. Mississippi’s chief justice, Michael Randolph, said he tracked public-health data before allowing 40 counties with two or fewer deaths related to Covid-19 to begin the process of bringing in juries.

My own hometown (weekly) newspaper in Arkansas, the Newton County Times, ran this story on the front page a few weeks ago, on May 20, 2020: "District court back in session June 1." The lede is:

Newton County District Court starts back on Monday, June 1. Court that was scheduled for April 6, 2020 and May 4, 2020 has been continued to Monday, June 1, 2020 with the temporary court appearance schedule. On June 1st, any defendant that heir last name begins with A-L will report at 9:00 AM and if the last name begins with M-Z the reporting time will be 1:00PM. Only the defendant will be allowed in the courtroom.  All other accompanying persons will have to wait outside unless the defendant is a minor and then only one parent and/or guardian may accompany them.

Yes, this means court is held only once a month in Newton County, when a judge from the multi-county district "rides circuit." 

The story continues by specifying the following rules for entering the building, which is the courthouse where other county offices are located: 

• Cooperate with the screening process
• Allow the taking of your temperature 
• Answer the brief questionnaire
• Maintain social distancing--6 feet apart
• Wear a mask which adequately covers your mouth and nose. ALL PERSONS SHALL BRING THEIR OWN MAKS TO THE COURT PROCEEDINGS. (emphasis original) 

Then there is a note about directing questions to the district court office at a local number, Monday through Friday from 8 am to 4 pm.