As national, state, and local governments grapple with the coronavirus situation, a district judge in Tarrant County has postponed all jury trials in his court for the rest of the month.
In response to the coronavirus situation, Judge Alex Kim of the 323rd District Court has postponed all jury trials in his court for the remainder of March.
Kim is the judge who recently, in a controversial closed-door meeting of Tarrant’s board of district judges, had all cases involving Child Protective Services removed from his court to benefit “the system” and “stakeholders.”
In a statement released today, Kim wrote:
“While each and every citizen has the choice to attend public gatherings or remain self-secluded, being called to jury service or serving on a jury is not a choice any individual is free to make. Therefore, this Court hesitates to compel any individual in Tarrant County to expose themselves to a pandemic they do not wish to do so voluntarily.”
The statement goes on to say that most of the juvenile dockets will be reset from March to May, except for those with “exceptional circumstance.” The child welfare dockets will remain unchanged, pending any decision from the Tarrant Board of District Judges.
A full copy of the statement can be found below.
.
