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Law360 (March 15, 2020, 11:33 PM EDT) -- Dallas County won't hold civil or criminal jury trials through May 8, in response to concerns over the coronavirus, the county announced late Sunday.
"We are taking the necessary steps to continue the justice system and keep you safe. I will extend these orders if necessary," Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said in a statement.
The cancellations apply to Dallas County criminal, civil and justice of the peace courts.
Defense attorneys in criminal cases are being asked to check with the court manager's office on the process for continuing to represent their clients.
The Fifth Court of Appeals, which hears appeals from Dallas courts, is closed Monday but plans to reopen Tuesday with limited staff, the court said on its website.
Courts across the country are canceling trials and other hearings amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and taking other precautionary measures aimed at mitigating the expected public health crisis.
The measures announced by Dallas County on Sunday extend and expand previous decisions to limit activity at the courts. On Thursday, the county announced it would cancel all civil and justice of the peace jury trials through mid-April.
The county had planned to keep the criminal courts operating with modified procedures to avoid large gatherings.
But local and state officials ramped up their responses to the spreading virus over the weekend. Gov. Greg Abbott declared a state of disaster on Friday.
The Texas Supreme Court issued an emergency order effective Friday that advised courts to suspend proceedings or schedule them to avoid gatherings of large groups of people until at least April 1.
In Dallas, jail cases, jail pleas and bond hearings will continue as scheduled. For bond cases, in-person dispositions won't resume until May 11. Appearances for bond cases will be waived until May 8. Cases can be reset with individual court coordinators..The court said it will be able to use video conference technology for some matters in jail and bond cases.
The Harris County Civil District Court, serving the Houston area, has suspended civil jury trials for the rest of March and has suspended criminal jury trials through March 20.
In federal court, as of late Sunday, the Southern District of Texas suspended all jury trials until April 1. The Fifth Circuit has closed its courthouse to the public and canceled in-person oral arguments scheduled between March 30 and April 2.
--Editing by Adam LoBelia.
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