Waukegan courthouse ramping back up virtually
Conducting business at the Waukegan courthouse remotely began Monday, and so far officials report it has been going well, albeit with a learning curve.
Beginning Monday, those scheduled to appear before a judge in family court, civil court, small claims court, criminal court or for matters concerning orders of protection have been able to do so over Zoom.
The courthouse largely closed in March because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Bond court has been held as needed with guidelines for social distancing.
Court spokeswoman Kasey D. Morgan said the livestreams have worked so far. She said the schedule has been light in the first week and will gradually increase until the work flow is back to normal.
"We've got a lot of moving parts and there's a lot of people involved and there's always going to be uncertainty in a new process," Morgan said. "We're always accommodating as much as we can in the given circumstances we're in."
In addition to teaching the new system, Morgan said some issues are outside the control of court staff, such as on Wednesday when there was a brief area Zoom outage.
Members of the public are able to watch live on YouTube, except for cases at branch court locations or in juvenile court.
One question heading into the remote court experiment was whether the Zoom court hearings would remain on YouTube to be viewed by the public after they happened. Morgan said the court decided against the streams being archived.
"We wouldn't normally allow recording in a courtroom without an extended media request," Morgan said. "We would be breaking our own rules."
Morgan said a new grand jury will be assembled next week but a task force is still deciding how to go about gathering regular trial juries.
While the majority of people needing to appear before a judge have done so using Zoom, through noon Wednesday 60 people have come to the courthouse in person to use one of the computer stations set up there, Morgan said. About 20 computer stations have been set up throughout the court building for people going virtually before a judge who are unable to do so using their own technology.
The new system is accessible by going to 19thcircuitcourt.state.il.us and clicking "remote court hearings." The effort has been a collaboration of the Lake County Bar Association, the circuit clerk's office, the public defender office, the state's attorney's office and others.
Morgan said people with questions about the new system can call court administration at (847) 377-3600.