Despite rising coronavirus hospitalizations and cases, jury trials will continue in Hidalgo County, but all in-person hearings that are not absolutely necessary are on hold.
The Hidalgo County Board of Judges held an emergency meeting Friday in response to the rising numbers, but state District Judge Noe Gonzalez, the county’s administrative judge, said officials with the health department are comfortable with the decision to continue jury trials.
“I told them what I thought was helping us, which was to have the jury system up and going and working and they appreciated that,” Gonzalez said.
Having juries is essential to reducing the population at the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Center, which remains near maximum capacity.
The coronavirus pandemic exacerbated overcrowding at the county jail because of the previous halting of jury trials, in-person proceedings and orders from Gov. Greg Abbott that prohibited anyone accused of a violent crime from being released on a personal recognizance bond.
However, as the courts inched back to normalcy before this current wave from the omicron variant, the presence of juries has resulted in more suspects taking pleas and has had an impact on reducing the county jail’s population, Gonzalez explained.
In response to overcrowding, the county has been housing suspects in other counties like Jim Hogg, Brooks, Starr and Cameron.
However, Cameron County, which has the largest jail of all those counties, is no longer taking suspects from Hidalgo County, Gonzalez said.
The courts will continue to enforce safety and health protocols in the courthouse, which includes mask usage, social distancing and other measures, such as the use of plexiglass to keep a barrier between people in courtrooms.
Gonzalez said juries that have been interviewed by various judges have reported that they all feel comfortable in the courthouse.
However, the latest surge is impacting the summoned jurors themselves.
On Friday morning, state District Judge Marla Cuellar was picking a jury and quite a number of people did not show up because they were either positive for the coronavirus or were exposed to it, Gonzalez said.
Part of the reason the health department is comfortable with jury trials continuing is because Hidalgo County has a high rate of people getting vaccinated or getting their booster so even those who are getting sick are bouncing back quickly, Gonzalez said.
“It’s an obvious health concern, but it’s not what we went through before and they attribute that completely to the vaccination rate,” Gonzalez said.
But in neighboring Cameron County, the Board of Judges there canceled jury trials through the month of January and has reverted to video-conferencing for court hearings, District Attorney Luis V. Saenz said on Facebook.
“It is the first time since April 2021 that we have done so,” he wrote.
