Pierce County Superior Court to resume jury trials, ending COVID-19 related suspension
Pierce County Superior Court is resuming jury trials next week, ending a six-week suspension of new civil and criminal jury trials brought on by a surge in coronavirus cases early in December and January.
Jury trials will resume Feb. 14, according to a news release announcing the change. Bench trials and other court proceedings were not affected by the suspension.
In January, Superior Court adminstrator Chris Gaddis said the decision was made to suspend jury trials to keep staff and court participants safe while COVID-19 case numbers from the Omicron variant climbed. Now, Western Washington is seeing Omicron cases begin to fall.
In Eastern Washington, experts speaking at a Department of Health briefing Feb. 2 still expected to see increasing case numbers for several more weeks.
In its announcement, the Superior Court encouraged Pierce County residents attending court proceedings to wear a mask that provides a higher level of protection from COVID-19 than a cloth mask, such as N95 and KN95 masks.
Superior Court facilities will also have a stockpile of surgical, N95 and KN95 masks available for court participants who want a more protective mask.
This story was originally published February 8, 2022 at 10:29 AM.
