Key Communications Issued
During the COVID-19 Pandemic

October 13, 2020

RE: Revised and Extended Court Operations
Emergency Order from the Supreme Court

Dear colleagues,

In response to changing circumstances and the need to update some timeframes in existing emergency orders, the Supreme Court has revised and extended its May 29, 2020 Court Operations Order. The attached, "Fourth Revised and Extended Order Regarding Court Operations" supersedes the May 29th order as well as the September 10th emergency order addressing excluded periods in calculating time for trial. Let me highlight some key provisions of the new order:

Time for Trial Calculation (Paragraph 12)

As you know, the September 10, 2020 order extended the excluded period set out in the May 29th order due to "unavoidable circumstances" posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, until "the next scheduled court hearing after October 15, 2020." Today's order maintains the existing excluded period, and provides: "After October 15, 2020, courts may further exclude time under these rules based on individual findings of "unavoidable circumstances" due to COVID-19 or other circumstances." (Paragraph 12). This recognizes that COVID-19 is impacting individual courts differently, and a statewide determination of unavoidable circumstances is no longer appropriate.

Bench Warrants (Paragraph 14)

While the May 29th order disallowed bench warrants for failures to appear in most situations, today's order authorizes courts to exercise discretion in deciding whether a bench warrant should issue. In exercising discretion, courts shall consider whether (a) a warrant is necessary for the immediate preservation of public or individual safety; (b) there is a record that the subject of the warrant has received actual notice of the previously scheduled court hearing or reporting requirement; and (c) there is a viable alternative for securing appearance such as the re-issuance of a summons or another means of notifying the subject that an appearance is required and re-setting the hearing date. Additionally, courts shall give serious consideration to the risk of COVID-19 transmission whenever a person is arrested and placed in detention, including whether the subject of the warrant is in a high risk category for exposure to COVID-19. And courts should continue the practice of not issuing or enforcing bench warrants for juvenile status offenses or violations.

Timeframes Updated (Paragraphs 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 11)

Some of the timeframes in the May 29th order have passed, such as the July 6, 2020 start date for resuming jury trials and the June 1, 2020 date beyond which certain hearings were continued. Today's order removes these obsolete timeframe restrictions. With respect to paragraph 11, which concerns extending juvenile court jurisdiction, today's order further extends juvenile court jurisdiction in pending juvenile offender cases, including those where jurisdiction had been previously extended pursuant to the emergency order, until the next scheduled juvenile court hearing after January 1, 2021. The purpose of this temporary extension is to preserve the current effect of paragraph 11, while allowing time for stakeholders and the juvenile justice committee of the BJA Court Recovery Task Force to consider further recommendations with respect to juvenile offender matters.

As with prior iterations of the court operations emergency order, today's order continues to recognize the existence of case-specific orders addressing Involuntary Treatment Act (ITA) matters and Dependency and Termination matters. For ease of reference, internal links to those orders have been added, alongside the existing links to guidance documents on a number of issues. The goal is to allow readers of the court operations order to easily access related orders and guidance within the body of the order. In further support of promoting easier access to all court-related emergency measures, the AOC is working to update the COVID-19 page at www.courts.wa.gov.

We know that responding to the COVID-19 pandemic is an ongoing challenge, one that requires flexibility and a willingness to make changes as circumstances continue to change. I want to thank all of the court professionals and justice system partners who are working every day to meet this challenge, and whose input was essential in updating this order. Your hard work, collaboration and innovative spirit are essential to meeting the justice needs of the people of Washington during this difficult time.

Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns. You can email me directly or through Caroline Tawes, caroline.tawes@courts.wa.gov.

Take care and stay safe,

Chief Justice Debra L. Stephens