Saying that “Zoom saved the courts,” Circuit Court Judge Marcy Buick gave an overview of the Covid-19 response at the DeKalb County Courthouse during this week’s Rotary meeting. Buick said there was initial apprehension after the emergency closure of the courthouse in March 2020. Buick felt a need for a physical presence at the courthouse building during this time as a way of showing the court system was still in place. She said standard court activity gradually began to resume but shifted to the high-tech virtual world of doing business.
According to Buick, some of Zoom-imposed changes improved management of resources. For example, transportation of prisoners to the courthouse from the county jail or other non-local jail facilities was eliminated because all parties appeared via video screens. Various court orders, such as orders of protection brought at the request of the non-profit Safe Passage organization, and issuing warrants, were scheduled for specific times reducing courthouse congestion. Also, required paperwork could more easily be filed electronically. Buick related that for one warrant request after hours, she was on the Great Western Trail bike path in Lily Lake but could still manage the hearing and order using her cell phone. However, she said the downside to easier video access is loss of control over the court setting with defendants and witnesses sometimes being overly casual in their appearance.