Waukesha County resumes in-person hearings, jury trials still on hold

WAUKESHA -- It is almost back to business as usual for the Waukesha County Courthouse. Starting Monday, all in-person proceedings, with the exception of jury trials, resumed.

Shane Waeghe

"So today, everything is now opened up and available for the public," Facilities Manager Shane Waeghe said.

After having been closed since march - the Waukesha County Courthouse is re-opening their doors.

"The building opened up to the public so they can also go into the administration building," Waeghe said.

Waukesha County Courtroom

But, as with most places that have re-opened since the start of the pandemic, there's going to be some changes.

"We went from doing from the vast majority of our hearings remotely either by Zoom or by telephone with some limited in-person, depending on the type of case that it was," Waukesha County Judge Jennifer Dorow said. "To now opening up the courthouse, to the courtrooms, to having people come into the courtrooms. Obviously one of the biggest changes is that masks are now required."

Face masks are required inside the courtrooms unless told otherwise by the judge.

Social distancing rules will be enforced, and hand sanitizing stations will be installed throughout the building.

These safety precautions allow for all in-person court proceedings to resume. And the clerk of court's office to also re-open for walk-in public service. But jury trials - those are still on hold.

"You can see the Plexiglas put up. As you can imagine Plexiglas can be difficult to come by sometimes so we're just waiting for all of that to be done before we open up fully to those," Dorow said.

Court officials say it's a fine balance of maintaining access and public safety.

For questions or concerns regarding court access, and appearances, check out their website.