Bar Buzz: Courthouse service counters reopening

Every District Court in all of Minnesota’s counties, and all state-level appellate courts, must open at least one public service counter by June 15.

That’s the new order from state Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie Gildea, issued Wednesday. The order also requires courts to comply with the COVID-19 Preparedness Plan approved by the state’s Judicial Council on May 15.

The order affects public service counters or courthouse clerks’ offices, whichever is in place. It also reboots public access computer terminals, allowing private attorneys, journalists and others to once again access full case files, not just the bare-bones register of actions that are available remotely.

Public service counters will be open Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. However, the order says, to comply with the court’s Preparedness Plan, counter service or public-terminal access might be available only as scheduled by the court administrator.

To help courthouse visitors stay safe and to inform them of changes they should expect to see, the Judicial Branch has posted a new web page, “Safely Reopening Court Facilities” (http://www.mncourts.gov/reopening).

The page covers topics like social distancing (it’s required) and face coverings (strongly encouraged). It also tells visitors to expect frequent cleaning of commonly touched courthouse surfaces like countertops, workstations and computer keyboards.

Court facilities are owned and operated by counties, so local courthouse requirements could vary. Some counties might initially offer their own scheduling for courthouse access, for example. Those details can be found on the new web page under the heading “Local Court Procedures & Contact.”

The Minnesota State Law Library will reopen to the public on June 15, 2020, but by appointment only.

Self-Help Center services will continue to be conducted by phone and email only.

Other than the changes listed here, the chief justice’s May 15 order remains in force. The new order does nothing, for example. to change required uses of remote hearing technologies or the branch’s previously announced transitional case strategy requirements for the various case types.

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