One year later; Courts ramp up as jury trials resume soon
From sparsely occupied parking lots to a dearth of foot traffic inside, the Guinn Justice Center has resembled a ghost town of sorts over the past year. The slowdown in activity came courtesy of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which scuttled many, though not all, of the center’s normal operations.
Although a return to normal remains a work in progress, life at the Guinn is about to get a lot livelier.
The absence of most in-person hearing but specifically jury trials substantially contributed to the slow down. Shutdown completely for a time during the pandemic, the Guinn reopened to the public last June but jury trials remained prohibited in almost all instances throughout the state. 413th District Judge Bill Bosworth on Monday said that jury trials are scheduled to return soon to Johnson County albeit on a soft opening and monitored schedule.