In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, while many non-essential services have been shut down, essential services are still required to function as close to normally as possible.
Law enforcement and local court systems are continuing to operate, but are changing policies to prevent spread of the virus in whatever ways they can.
“It is ordered that all in-person proceedings in all Arizona appellate, superior, justice and municipal courts and before the presiding disciplinary judge be avoided to the greatest extent possible consistent with core constitutional rights until further ordered by this court,” the Arizona Supreme Court wrote in an administrative order on March 18.
The order halted the empaneling of new juries and recommended using electronic filing, digital communication and teleconferencing to avoid in-person court interactions as much as possible.
Courts are advised to avoid simultaneous hearings that would require more than 10 people to be in a room at a time and limit attendees of court hearings to necessary persons for the same reasons.
In Yavapai County, all jury trials have been vacated for at least two weeks, though Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk noted that the delay could last longer.
“There are no changes to imposing jail in criminal cases; our changes focus on minimizing the number of people gathering in our courtrooms for our cases and are making sure we continue to resolve our cases at the same rate as before the pandemic,” Polk wrote in an email. County prosecutors are communicating with defendants telephonically when possible and allowing for digital signatures.
Law enforcement agencies are also making changes to avoid close contact whenever possible.
“Officers have been directed to only make physical arrests when necessary,” Cottonwood Police Chief Steve Gesell wrote in an email. “Citations in lieu of detention are preferred. We want to protect our officers and do our part to keep the jail population as low as possible.”
The CPD has also suspended fingerprinting, Police Citizens Academy, the Cadet Program, the Ride-A-Long Program and facility tours for the duration of the crisis.
The Camp Verde Marshal’s Office has responded similarly to the crisis, limiting jail citations as much as possible and suspending fingerprinting, the Ride-A-Long Program, facility tours, VIP [volunteer] services and purchasing of dog licenses. Animal control is being handled on “a case by case basis depending on severity.”
The Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office has halted fingerprinting, is limiting access to lobbies of YCSO buildings, is expecting delays in non-emergency responses and will attempt to screen for the possibility of the virus in all responses.
“We are spending a great deal of time screening new bookings for symptomology, sanitizing the jail on a daily basis and monitoring everyone in the jail for symptoms to develop,” Yavapai County Sherrif’s Office Chief David Rhodes, who runs the county jail in Camp Verde, wrote in an email. “At this time like the rest of the country we are waiting for the ability to test as a management tool. We are also working with the courts to keep the population low through a variety of measures. Of course low level offenders that are a danger to public safety will still be arrested, I think that is important to mention. Yavapai is responding well as a community to assist with this process during truly unprecedented times.”
