Cass County Courts Memo on In-person Proceedings

As we move out of our COVID protocols, the other Judges and I, in consultation with the Cass County Sheriff's Office and Court Administration wanted to share our plans for in-person and Zoom proceedings as we move forward.

Jury Trials (in-person)

• Judge Rentfrow: starting August 1, 2022, jury trials will return to Tuesdays
• Judge Herman: no changes (jury trials will remain on Tuesdays)
• Judge Bealor: no changes (jury trials on Thursdays or as otherwise scheduled)

Other Matters

• Judge Rentfrow:

  • Starting August 1, 2022:
    • Sentencings will be in person absent good cause and waiver of the right to be in person (Thursdays)
    • Pretrials and Pre-exam conferences will be in person absent good cause and waiver of the right to be in person (Thursdays)
      • Unless in custody — then can appear remotely if necessary
    • All other matters, including preliminary examinations (Wednesdays), arraignments, informal hearings, small claims, and landlord/tenant will remain via Zoom for now unless in-person is requested by the parties and good cause is shown
    • Adult Treatment Court/Sobriety Court will continue to occur via Zoom for now unless the Court otherwise directs participants to appear in person

• Judge Herman:

  • 
    

    Starting August 1, 2022:
    • Sentencings will be in person absent good cause and a waiver of the right to be in person (Fridays)
  • All other matters will remain via Zoom for now unless in-person is requested by the parties and good cause is shown
  • Swift & Sure and Mental Health Court will continue to occur via Zoom for now unless the Court otherwise directs participants to appear in person

• Judge Bealor:

  • Hearings will continue primarily via Zoom for now unless in-person is requested by the parties and good cause is shown
  • Family Treatment Court will continue to occur via Zoom for now unless the Court otherwise directs participants to appear in person
  • FOC show cause docket will resume on or after August 1, 2022, and will be in-person in front of the FOC Attorney Referee or Judge Bealor

Zoom Room at the Law & Courts Building

• We are exploring the possibility of setting up at least one (1) Zoom room for attorneys and parties to use so that attorneys and parties can connect from our building so that they can have conversations off the record because it is difficult for the Court to set up break out rooms for attorneys and parties during hearings when there are multiple matters scheduled

If anyone has any questions or concerns, please let me know.

We appreciate everyone's continued collaboration and cooperation. I am very proud of how well we adjusted during COVID pivoting to Zoom hearings to ensure continued cooperation of our Courts.

We continue to appreciate feedback and suggestions from everyone so that we can ensure we are hearing a variety of viewpoints about Zoom and in-person proceedings and adapt as necessary. 

Find the original memo here.