UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF omo
]:21 MAR -3 PM 4: 27
In Re: U.S. DISTl.iCl CC:uKT
\OUHIERN DlSi. OHIO
FURTHER ORDER REGARDING COURT tAST. DIV. COLUMBUS
OPERATIONS UNDER THE ONGOING GENERAL ORDER NO. 21-07
EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES
CREATED BY COVID-19
The Court issues this General Order as one of a series of General Orders that it has adopted
in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Court has adopted each of these General
Orders in the interests of public health, and in accordance with current determinations by the Ohio
Department of Health and the Governor of the State of Ohio, guidelines issued by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), guidelines from the Administrative Office of the United
States Courts (AO) (i.e., the Federal Judiciary COVID-19 Recovery Guidelines and the COVID-
19 Judicial Task Force Jury Subgroup Report), and the recommendations the Court has received
from an Ad Hoc Committee on Gating Criteria the Court formed to evaluate appropriate measures
to be taken to prevent the further spread of COVID-19 in Ohio.
In General Order 20-17, the Court adopted a Reconstitution Plan for reopening the
courthouses in this District as of June 1, 2020. That Reconstitution Plan was attached to and
incorporated in General Order 20-17. But, based on sustained high levels ofCOVID-19 infections
in the District and across the country throughout the remainder of 2020, the Court has amended
and updated that Reconstitution Plan through subsequent General Orders. The most recent such
General Order was General Order 20-36, issued November 25, 2020, which subsequently: (1) was
extended by General Order 20-38 (to January 31, 2021); (2) was amended as to grand jury
proceedings by General Order 21-02; and (3) was further extended in its as-amended form by
General Order 21-04 (to February 28, 2021).
Since the time the Court issued General Order 20-36, and even since the time the Court
issued General Order 21-04, case counts, hospitalizations, and mortality figures associated with
COVID-19 have decreased substantially across Ohio, in the Southern District, and in each seat of
Court in this District. Moreover, Ohio is moving forward rapidly to vaccinate its population
against COVID-19, most recently reporting an average of 60,000 vaccinations per day. While the
COVID-19 pandemic remains a significant concern, new information such as that set forth above
caused the Ad Hoc Committee on Gating Criteria to issue new recommendations, which the Court
has since adopted. As a result, effective immediately, and continuing through March 31, 2021, the
Reconstitution Plan is amended as set forth herein:
1. Jury Trials: The Court will allow the resumption of civil and criminal jury trials, but only
subject to the terms and conditions set forth in this General Order.
a. Civil Jury Trials: During the pendency of this Order, any civil matter set for jury
trial shall move forward with such trial only if: (1) at least one of the parties in the
matter represents to the Court that the interests ofjustice require the jury trial to go
forward as scheduled and that any further continuance in the matter would represent
a hardship to the party; and (2) the Court likewise determines that, in the interests
of justice, it is absolutely necessary that the matter go forward as scheduled. Any
civil jury trial set to occur during the pendency of this Order, as to which both of
the above conditions are not met, will be continued to a future date to be set by the
assigned judge.
2
b. Criminal Jury Trials: During the pendency of this Order, in any criminal matter
in which the defendant is in custody (or, in any multi-defendant matter, if any one
or more of the defendants who will be tried at the same jury trial are in custody),
the jury trial shall be scheduled and move forward in the ordinary course unless the
defendant (or, in cases involving multiple defendants who will be tried together, all
defendants who are in pretrial detention) requests a continuance. In any criminal
matter in which no defendant is in custody, any trial in the matter that is or would
be scheduled during the pendency of this Order shall be continued to a later date
unless the defendant requests that the trial go forward, in which case a jury trial
shall be scheduled in the ordinary course. As to any criminal jury trial that is
continued under this paragraph, the judicial officer shall include in the Order re-
setting the date for the continued trial the requisite findings under the Speedy Trial
Act.
c. Courtroom with plexiglass shielding: Any jury trial that occurs during the
pendency of this General Order shall take place only in a courtroom that has been
outfitted with plexiglass shielding.
2. Naturalization ceremonies, whether scheduled to occur in the courthouse or at off-site
locations, are suspended through March 31, 2021. The Court takes this step to comply
with the November 15, 2020, Order of Ohio Interim Director of Public Health, Lance D.
Himes, limiting gatherings of greater than ten people.
3. Grand Jury proceedings are authorized to commence effective immediately, but only to
the extent that the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio deems it
necessary for the grand jury to meet. In determining whether to move forward with grand
3
jury proceedings on particular dates, or as to particular matters, the United States Attorney
shall weigh heavily the need to reduce courthouse traffic in the interest ofpublic health.
4. In-court proceedings other than those referenced above (e.g., bench trials, suppression
hearings, oral arguments on motions, temporary restraining orders, preliminary injunction
proceedings, etc.) that are scheduled to occur after February 28, 2021, but during the
pendency of this General Order, shall occur in person only upon a determination by the
assigned judge that the interests ofjustice require that the proceedings be conducted in that
manner. In exercising their discretion in setting such proceedings, judges will weigh
heavily the need to reduce courthouse traffic in the interest of public health. To the extent
that a judicial officer concludes that a given in-person proceeding must go forward, the
proceeding shall take place in a courtroom that has been outfitted with plexiglass shielding.
5. This General Order does not prevent any proceedings from occurring through use of video-
or audio-conferencing capabilities insofar as the same are permitted by law. The fact that,
absent a sealing order by the presiding judge, these will be public proceedings, does not
authorize their broadcasting by anyone. S. D. Ohio Civ. R. 83.2 applies to these
proceedings.
This General Order does not change any of the preventive measures specified in the
Reconstitution Plan including, without limitation:
a. Screening all visitors to the courthouses for indications of COVID-19 infection;
b. Requiring all Court personnel and visitors to wear face masks in specified locations in
the courthouses;
c. Requiring all persons in the courthouses to maintain a physical distance of at least six
feet from other persons ("social distancing"); and
4
d. Responding to any reported COVID-19 infection in one of the courthouses according
to the detailed protocol provided in the Reconstitution Plan.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED: March 3, 2021
CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
5
