Kitsap Review

Kitsap County District Court issued the following announcement on March 31.

THIS ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER is being issued in response to the current pandemic outbreak of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). 1 Given the significant number of identified and projected cases of the disease in Washington, the severity of the risk posed to the public and staff, the recommendations of the Kitsap Public Health District, Governor Inslee’s March 23, 2020 “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” Order, and the authority granted by Supreme Court Orders No. 25700-B-602 at ¶1 (Mar. 4, 2020), No. 25700-B607 at ¶15 (amended Mar. 20, 2020) and General Rule 29, additional immediate action by the Kitsap County District Court2 is required. 

NOW, THEREFORE, it is hereby – ORDERED that effective immediately and until further Order of the Court –

 1. PREVIOUS ORDERS

 All previous Emergency Administrative Orders remain in full effect. 

2. DISTRICT COURT OPERATING WITH LIMITED PERSONNEL

 District Court’s Presiding Judge3 has ordered that only one-fourth of District Court personnel, including one-third of the judges,4 are permitted in the Kitsap County Courthouse5 at any one time.

3. ONLY COURTROOM 

105 IS AVAILABLE Due to the limited number of District Court personnel in the Courthouse, the Presiding Judge has closed three of District Court’s four courtrooms. Only courtroom 105 remains open. Courtroom 105 now daily handles District Court in-custody video hearings at 11:00 AM as well as Superior Court in-custody video hearings at 1:30 PM. Courtroom 105 daily handles any civil protection order matters that arise. Finally, courtroom 105 bi-weekly handles domestic violence no contact order modifications and rescissions brought by protected parties.  Courtroom 105 is available for a limited number of other matters between 9:00 and 10:30 AM. 9 Accordingly, certain types of out-of-custody criminal matters will be permitted to be scheduled as outlined below. 

 4. “CASE RESOLUTION” CALENDAR 

Effective April 8, 2020, courtroom 105 will be opened in the morning for out-of-custody criminal cases where the parties have reached an agreement to resolve the case. The “Case Resolution” calendar includes guilty pleas,11 entry of pre-trial and felony diversion agreements, entry of deferred prosecutions, compromise of misdemeanors, and successful completion of pre-trial and felony diversion agreements where the charge is to be amended. 

 5. “AGREED MOTION” CALENDAR

 Effective April 8, 2020, courtroom 105 will also be opened in the morning for out-of-custody criminal cases where the parties have reached an agreement short of resolving a case but desire to have a court order entered.

The “Agreed Motion” calendar includes modification of conditions of release as well as modification of other court orders including sentences and commitments. The “Agreed Motion” calendar is only available where both parties agree to the requested action. 6. AN “EMERGENCY” MOTION IS NOT REQUIRED Emergency Administrative Order No. 2020-1 at ¶4 requires a written ex parte motion by a party seeking to accelerate an out-of-custody criminal hearing which was continued due to that Order. This provision of Order No. 2020-1 is amended only concerning out-of-custody criminal cases properly set on a courtroom 105 “Case Resolution” or “Agreed Motion” calendar. The remaining provisions of Order No. 2020-1 remain in full effect. 

7. SCHEDULING

 – WEDNESDAYS, THURSDAYS, AND FRIDAYS A hearing authorized by this Order will be scheduled at the discretion of the Court on only Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings.

 8. SCHEDULING – 

MINIMUM 48 HOURS NOTICE TO COURT A hearing authorized by this Order will be scheduled at the discretion of the Court to be held at least 48 hours after the Court receives a request for hearing, not including nonjudicial days. 

9. SCHEDULING – 

NOTICE OF HEARING The parties are responsible for providing notice to each other of a hearing authorized by this Order. The Court will not provide notice. 

10. SCHEDULING 

– ONLY BY THE PROSECUTOR The Kitsap County Prosecutor’s Office13 and the Kitsap County Office of Public Defense are operating with a significantly diminished number of personnel. It is critical that the parties have fully communicated with each other in advance of a hearing authorized by this Order. All necessary paperwork including forms must be thoroughly prepared and completed in advance.

The Court is instantaneously being re-designed from in-person hearings to Zoom video conferencing hearings with little advance preparation or notice. This transformation of the way District Court conducts business will take time to fully implement. Court hearings under this new era will likely take longer than past in-court practice, at least for awhile. This District Court transformation is occurring at a time of national crisis while at least threequarters of District Court’s personnel not permitted in the Courthouse at any one time. It will waste precious District Court resources to schedule hearings authorized by this Order and thereafter learn that the Prosecutor lacks their own resources to be prepared for a particular hearing or court date. Accordingly, all hearings authorized by this Order shall be scheduled by the Prosecutor after consultation with defense counsel. District Court will not schedule any hearings authorized by this Order upon request by defense counsel. Defense counsel are not to contact District Court in an attempt to schedule such a hearing. 

11. APPEARANCE –

 NO IN-COURT APPEARANCES No in-court appearances are permitted for courtroom 105 out-of-custody criminal cases, except as permitted by ¶12. 

12. APPEARANCE –

 ATTORNEY IN-COURT PERMITTED The Court recognizes that attorneys may need access to forms which are only available through District Court’s SharePoint computer software system. Realistically, these forms are only accessible by use of Courthouse computers.14 While counsel are encouraged to appear as discussed below, counsel will be permitted to appear in-person for this out-of-custody criminal calendar. Counsel are expected while inside the Courthouse to adhere to six foot social distancing from all others, including court staff.15 Anyone who feels sick should not enter the Courthouse.

13. ZOOM VIDEO CONFERENCING

 “STRONGLY ENCOURAGED” Except as permitted by ¶12, all individuals desiring to appear for a courtroom 105 out-of-custody criminal calendar may only appear by Zoom video conferencing17 or by telephone. Zoom hearings will be given priority over telephonic hearings. Counsel and litigants are “strongly encouraged” by the Presiding Judge to appear by Zoom rather than telephonically due to the Court’s current inability in courtroom 105 to handle more than one telephone call at a time.

14. HOW DO I FIND A ZOOM HEARING? Zoom provides simplified video and audio conferencing. Zoom can be accessed by a computer or any mobile device such as a cell phone, iPad or tablet. Zoom is free for the user.

15. TELEPHONIC APPEARANCE DISFAVORED Appearance by telephone is disfavored. If a user is unable to appear by Zoom, only one user per case may appear telephonically. A. Telephone Number. The user must provide his or her telephone number to the clerk at the time of scheduling the hearing. B. Party Must Be Available Between 9:00 and 10:30 AM. A party must be available for the Court to call the person between 9:00 and 10:30 AM on the scheduled hearing date. The Court will telephonically contact individuals one case at a time after completing cases heard by Zoom. No hearings authorized by this Order will be held after 10:45 AM on the scheduled hearing date. C. Stricken If Unable To Contact. If the Court at the hearing is unable to contact a party choosing to appear telephonically, the hearing will be stricken.

16. “EMERGENCY” MOTION TO ACCELERATE COURT DATE If the prosecutor declines to schedule an out-of-custody criminal matter, Emergency Adkbk mministrative Order No. 2020-1 at ¶4 remains in effect. Order No. 2020-1 reads in pertinent part – [Counsel may submit] a written ex parte request which will be reviewed in chambers showing good cause for a hearing date to be accelerated from the continued hearing date… If a party in an out-of-custody criminal matter believes an “emergency” exists justifying accelerating a court date, the party must provide to the Court in writing an explanation why good cause exists to accelerate the hearing date. The Court will review the party’s written materials in chambers and decide whether to grant an “emergency” hearing. The Court will thereafter notify the party of the Court’s decision. 

17. WHAT IS AN “EMERGENCY”? 

For the purposes of this Order only, “emergency” means “an unforeseen combination of circumstances or the resulting state that calls for immediate action.”20 The recent counterfeit unicorn drawings case in an Illinois federal district court provides a good example of what is not an emergency.21 The case cites to a 7th Circuit case – About half of the practice of a decent lawyer is telling would-be clients that they are damned fools and should stop. The Court is confident Kitsap County Bar Association members will only file meritorious “emergency” motions to accelerate court dates during this global pandemic.

18. DUI AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE RETURNS

This Order has no effect on mandatory DUI and Domestic Violence returns.

Kitsap County District Court remains open.

Original source can be found here.