The Rhea County Courthouse in Dayton, Tennessee, was shut down late last week over coronavirus concerns involving the General Sessions Court judge, then reopened Monday, with the exception of his courtroom.
Rhea County General Sessions and Juvenile Judge J. Shannon Garrison has not been in court this week due to unspecified coronavirus concerns, according to 12th Judicial District Attorney General Mike Taylor. Taylor said he didn't know whether Garrison tested positive for the virus or was just concerned about possible exposure.
Garrison notified court officials about the matter Oct. 21, Taylor said, so the courthouse was closed the rest of the week by the county executive.
Rhea County Circuit Court and General Sessions Court Clerk Jamie Holloway said the closure Thursday and Friday was for cleaning because of coronavirus concerns inside the courthouse. Holloway didn't elaborate further.
No one answered calls or return messages left at Garrison's judge's office or his private office on Thursday.
Justin Angel, the presiding circuit court judge in the 12th Judicial District, said none of the district's circuit or chancery judges have been exposed or become ill from the coronavirus to his knowledge, but he doesn't oversee general sessions courts. Angel was unaware of last week's courthouse closure, he said.
(Check out the latest information on the Times Free Press coronavirus tracker)
Meanwhile, prosecutors won't staff General Sessions Court until Nov. 10 to make sure at least 14 days have passed, Taylor said Thursday. The next regularly scheduled criminal day in sessions court is Nov. 3, but Taylor said that wasn't quite long enough to be certain. He said Judge Garrison and the Rhea County Circuit Court Clerk's office were notified of the plans to resume staffing sessions court.
Courts in some of the 12th Judicial District's other counties close on Election Day anyway, Taylor said, so there's not much expected impact from the delay.
Rhea County's virus figures show a total 1,121 cases, 117 active cases, 42 hospitalizations, 19 deaths, 14,827 tests, 13,486 negative labs and 1,005 inactive recovered cases, according to Tennessee Department of Health's figures as of Oct. 29.
Garrison was elected to the General Sessions Court in 2014.
Courthouse and judicial office closures are not uncommon during the pandemic.
A number of courthouses have closed over COVID-19 concerns, including the courthouses in Chattooga and Walker counties that closed in July in Georgia, and another closure early in the pandemic in Jackson County, Alabama. Jackson County had closed its courthouse in March because an employee there was the first Alabama resident to die of the virus.
Back in Tennessee, Franklin County closed its judicial center in Winchester after two cases were confirmed there in August, according to reports in the Herald-Chronicle.
Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569. Follow him on Twitter @BenBenton or at https://ift.tt/2ldw7xK.
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October 30, 2020 at 04:10AM
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