State Court Judge Jon Dennis issued a statement on Wednesday concerning upcoming State Court proceedings. Judge Dennis says that both arraignments and trials will be continued until June of this year. Judge Dennis told WZQZ News that the most important thing for those coming to State Court to remember is that proceedings will be held in the main courtroom at the Chattooga County Courthouse, instead of the Courthouse Annex. Judge Dennis said that Judge Kristina Graham offered the use of the main courtroom so that better social-distancing practices could be observed during State Court proceedings. You can read Judge Dennis’ complete statement below:
Because of Honorable Melton’s recently-issued amended order governing the Judicial Branch, the Supreme Court of Georgia down to lower courts. The order addressed the Coronavirus and cases that must be heard and cases that should be continued. Inasmuch as misdemeanors do not constitute a case that must be heard, State Court cases for Chattooga County, both arraignments and trials, will be continued until June of this year. The arraignments will be on Monday, June 22, 2020, and the bench trials will be on Tuesday, June 23, 2020.
As we will be handling three months of arraignments and trials, State Court will be held in the main courtroom rather than in the annex. Subpoenas will be mailed later this week or early next week (the first full week of May or the second full week). We will call a few Defendants at a time in order to do our best to maintain social distancing and to protect the Defendants and our employees. While the Courts are open to the public, we would encourage Defendants present for arraignment to come alone particularly if their intention is only to enter a not guilty plea and to have their cases tried in July.
Probationers currently under sentence are to continue to report as directed by the Chief Probation Officer Hannah Goodrich.
We appreciate our citizens working together to keep our communities and our county safe for all others.
John R. Dennis
State Court Judge,
Chattooga County
Comments