FAIRHOPE – Rising numbers of COVID-19 cases have caused Fairhope city officials to close municipal court proceedings for January in an effort to prevent additional spread of the coronavirus.
Court cases set for January will be rescheduled to dockets later this year, Lt. Shane Nolte of the Fairhope Police Department said. Nolte said the postponements are a precaution in case the number of COVID-19 cases increases after the Christmas holidays.
“It’s the same thing as the schools. You’ve got everybody that’s getting together for the holidays and you don’t know what’s going to happen as far as the rise and fall of these cases in the next week or two. The problem with court is you’re sticking several patrol shifts as well as other officers and court staff and everybody in there with a couple of hundred people coming to court,” Nolte said.
“We just don’t need an outbreak in any of our stuff either. Nor do we want to spread it to the public or in the public either,” he said.
The Baldwin County School System postponed plans for students to return to class Tuesday, Jan. 4, following the Christmas holidays. Students will receive virtual instruction for four days until traditional classes resume Jan. 11.
Fairhope Municipal Court sessions are held in the City Council chambers in City Hall. Nolte said the space is too small to allow social distancing and other precautions during court sessions. During City Council meetings, seating has been restricted to allow only one or two people to sit in each row.
Court sessions, however, can have as many as 200 people, Nolte said.
“That’s just too many people and then by the time you put attorneys and court staff and officers, it adds up in a hurry,” he said.
Nolte said city court sessions were also canceled during the summer after Fairhope closed other municipal offices, such as City Hall, the library, museum and other facilities, during the coronavirus outbreak.
Municipal Court sessions are held on the first and third Wednesday of each month. Sessions are still set for February and cases that had been scheduled for January will be rescheduled.
