San Diego Superior Court closures extended through Memorial Day weekend

SAN DIEGO (CNS) - The San Diego Superior Court will extend its COVID- 19-related closures through May 22, meaning county courthouses will remain shuttered until after the Memorial Day weekend, court officials announced today.

Courthouses throughout the region had been slated to reopen to the general public this Friday. But the Superior Court stated that non-emergency court services will remain suspended in the interest of public health and mitigating the spread of the virus.

"As COVID-19 continues to be a concern for our community, we are closely monitoring the recommendations from local and state public health agencies while working to determine the safest way to resume normal operations,'' said San Diego Superior Court Presiding Judge Lorna Alksne.

"After careful consideration, we have deemed it necessary to extend the court's suspension of our usual services. In the meantime, the court has worked to increase the number of services that we are able to safely provide and we are exploring additional technological solutions to be able to continue increasing services available online and remotely until we can fully re-open our doors to the public.''

Courthouses reopenings are now planned for Tuesday, May 26.

Meanwhile, emergency service operations are ongoing. The Superior Court says nearly 1,000 requests for temporary restraining orders have been received since county courthouses closed their doors, while more than 800 video and telephonic criminal hearings have been held for county defendants who remain in custody.

Anyone with inquiries regarding court operations and services provided during the closure period were advised to visit http://www.sdcourt.ca.gov/coronavirus.