The Vermont court system is not ready to return to business as usual.
On Friday, the Vermont Supreme Court extended its order declaring a judicial emergency until Nov. 1, 2021. That means the state’s courts can continue to hold many proceedings remotely, and to limit how many people can be in a courthouse.
The order is intended to keep court staff and participants in court proceedings safe during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Patricia Gabel, state court administrator, said that remote proceedings have turned out to be a good thing for the courts and the public. They allow defendants, lawyers and plaintiffs to appear in court via video, rather than in person, for some types of cases. Gabel says that makes it easier for people to attend court proceedings.
“We actually have a higher appearance rate now that we do remote hearings because people don’t have to get child care or take time off from work,” Gabel said.
While not all proceedings can be held remotely, Gabel said the court is “really favoring” the remote model.
The court’s order also makes it clear that timelines for fulfilling public records requests will continue to be flexible, because of staffing issues.
“We strive to respond as quickly as possible,” Gabel said, “but we recognize that the pandemic makes it more difficult to respond to public records requests, which is something we’ve been struggling with since the pandemic started.”
