Echoing a state Supreme Court order, Butler County's administrative judge has removed all coronavirus restrictions on the government center and returned the building, including the courts, to normal operations starting Monday.

As COVID-19 began to spread, Judge William Shaffer, acting administrative judge in the Butler County Court of Common Pleas, enacted restrictions March 18 allowing access to the courthouse, county government center and courtrooms to only those who had direct business there. The order, along with the Supreme Court one, brought a halt to all eviction hearings and jury trials in criminal and civil cases.

The Supreme Court extended the order several times to continue the statewide judicial emergency through May 31, and issued an order to end the statewide judicial emergency June 1.

The Supreme Court and local orders allow district, county and appeals courts mostly closed to the public and operating on a limited basis since March to reopen Monday. At the time of the March order, there were 207,855 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 8,648 deaths globally, according to the World Health Organization. As of Friday, there were 5,701,337 confirmed cases and 357,688 deaths globally.

Monday's court schedule has dozens of defendants slated to appear for formal arraignments and other regular criminal case proceedings. Under the expired order, these proceedings were rescheduled, but now they will be able to take place.

“Who knows what the new normal will look like?” said District Attorney Richard Goldinger. “I don't think we'll know fully until the first two weeks of June are over, and once the dust settles we'll see where everything stands. We'll be very busy next two weeks, keeping track of things and people. But we're ready for it.”

Many county employees were furloughed in response to the county government's reduced responsibilities under the coronavirus precautions. The furloughs extended to the district attorney and public defender's offices. But earlier this month, Goldinger and Public Defender Kevin Flaherty brought their legal teams back in preparation for what Goldinger described as the eventual flood.

“We're not flooded with cases yet. I was just talking with my team and we don't feel overwhelmed. We'll be fine,” Flaherty said. “We're a little bit anxious to see what measures will be taken by the county to keep things sanitized and safe as possible. Some measures have been put in place by Shaffer, and individual judges have their ideas. They're all taking measures and precautions.”

President Judge Thomas Doerr is limiting the number of people who will be in his courtroom Monday for DUI court, which is a mass court scheduling for defendants facing charges of driving under the influence. Goldinger said there are about 30 people who will appear. To help limit exposure and gatherings of large groups, he has arranged all of the defendants to appear in courtroom one, which is significantly larger than courtroom five, where the hearings are typically held.

“So, everyone will go to courtroom number one because it's bigger. They'll be offered ARD or plea agreements or next court appearance,” Doerr said, explaining the typical process of this type of court appearance. “If they accept one of the options, they'll go to courtroom five and go through the motions. Everyone will wear a mask, including the judge and court staff, and (it will be) clearly marked in the courtroom where you can be six feet apart.”

Courtroom five will only allow 12 members of the public inside. Goldinger said the 30 defendants will be staggered in groups of 10.

He noted that he and the other judges are all trying their best to take proper precautions.

“Everybody has been busier than normal these last few weeks in preparation for opening up,” he said.

Goldinger said the other major court proceeding taking place Monday are status conferences, which are hearings where defendants appear with their lawyers to speak with prosecutors about the progress of their cases.

“For status, we eliminated private clients. We'll only handle public defender clients for the first couple days,” Goldinger said. “We have them spread out in the jury assembly room and Kiester Commons. Just putting people in different parts of the courtroom to promote social distancing until they're ready to be dealt with in front of the judge.”

Goldinger continued, “I don't know what to expect. It's a mass number of cases. We're ready. It's just a matter how this will play out once we get to Monday.”