UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE
DISTRICT OF VERMONT
FILED
U.S. DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF VERMONT
In Re: Clerk’s Office Operations Under the Exigent MARCH 25, 2020
Circumstances Created by COVID-19
GENERAL ORDER NO. 87
WHEREAS, the President of the United States has declared a national emergency, and
the Governor of the State of Vermont has declared a public health emergency throughout the
State;
WHEREAS, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has advised people to
take precautions in light of the COVID-19 virus (coronavirus) outbreak, and has noted that the
best way to prevent illness is to avoid being exposed to the virus, through, among other means,
social distancing; and
WHEREAS, the Court continues to review its operations to identify measures that will
help slow the spread of the virus by minimizing contact between persons, while at the same time
preserving its core mission of serving the public through the fair and impartial administration of
justice;
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, effective immediately and until further order of the
Court, that the District and Bankruptcy Court Clerk’s Offices will not be open to the public but
will continue to provide efficient service to the public and to litigants in the following manner:
1. Manual filings. All manual filings with the Court shall be made at a box designated
for that purpose in the entrance lobby of each courthouse. Each box will have a date
stamp to preserve the date of filing. This order does not affect filing through the
Court’s electronic filing system, which remains available.
2. Payments. Any person required to make payments to the Courts shall make such
payment by check or money order and shall either mail (or send by FedEx or UPS)
such payment to the Burlington Clerk’s Offices or by depositing the payment in the
box mentioned in paragraph 1. Each check or money order shall indicate the docket
number of the case and the purpose of the payment (e.g., “restitution”, or “filing
fee”). Should any person subject to a payment order be unable to obtain a check or
money order, that person may file a motion to request temporary relief from the
payment obligation from the judge assigned to the case. Individual judges may
decide, in their discretion, to require some showing that the litigant has made
reasonable efforts to obtain a check or money order.
Payments may also be made via telephone by providing credit card information to the
Courts’ intake staff.
The Bankruptcy Court does not accept personal checks or credit card payments from
debtor’s when filing a petition.
3. Public computer terminal. The public computer terminals in the Clerk’s offices
will no longer be accessible. Litigants may telephone the Clerk’s Offices for each
court unit to obtain information and to request necessary copies of documents from
each litigant’s case file. Electronic dockets continue to be accessible through
PACER.
4. Continuity of Operations. Although the public intake counters are closed to the
public, the judges and court staff are working full time on the cases pending before
each court unit. During regular business hours, court employees will telework,
process court filings, issue orders, schedule hearings, and be available to answer
telephone calls from the public and bar. Court employees will perform other
specified duties at the courthouse as required to support any scheduled hearings.
SO ORDERED.
Dated at Burlington, in the District of Vermont, this 25 day of March, 2020.
/s/ Geoffrey W. Crawford
Chief Judge
