The Carbon County Court of Common Pleas has declared a judicial emergency for the 56th judicial district.

The judicial emergency is in effect from Tuesday through April 14.

That means, according to administrative order signed by President Judge Roger N. Nanovic, “in order to safeguard the health and safety of court personnel, court users and members of the public on account of COVID-19,” the following will be in effect at this time.

The common pleas judges and magisterial district judges will grant continuance requests with respect to trials, hearings and conferences in all civil and criminal matters, except for criminal arraignments and bail establishment hearings protection from abuse proceedings and injunction proceedings that would cause irreparable harm if not held as they are essential judicial services.

The call of the criminal trial list that was scheduled for March 24, as well as criminal jury trials schedule for the week of March 30 will be rescheduled for May 26.

All criminal pretrial conferences scheduled for April 9 in the district attorney’s office will be rescheduled at a later date. Waivers will be accepted up until and including the date and time of the scheduled formal arraignment.

Scheduling of larger court lists will be staggered to avoid larger groups of people in courtrooms.

All gagnon and parole violation hearings for those in custody shall be held by advanced communication technology and all other such hearings shall proceed in court as scheduled.

Conferences involving custody and divorce matters before Eileen Diehl shall be done on audio teleconference, unless an exception is approve by Diehl.

Preliminary hearings scheduled before the four magisterial district judges, except those involving an incarcerated person, will be rescheduled after the emergency is over. District judges’ offices will also implement similar scheduling such as staggering scheduling and continuances.

Landlord-tenant writs shall be stayed through April 14.

Children and youth hearings for emergency shelter, adjudication or review, where there is a stipulation, no children, parents, foster parents or placement personnel will attend unless prior approval is granted from the court. Witnesses in these cases, with the exception of caseworkers, will be permitted to testify by telephone. Scheduling will also be staggered.

Veterans treatment and drug treatment courts status conferences are canceled.

Updates to any court actions, contact phone numbers and operations are available on the court’s website at www.carboncourts.com and any additional information regarding the closure will be posted on the site as needed.