Grand Jury cases to resume in Dougherty County

(ALBANY, GA) – After more than half a year, cases in Dougherty County requiring a Grand Jury are finally going to be taking place again.

Circuit Chief Justice, Willie Lockette says that one of the larger challenges in just getting to this point has been how the courtrooms have had to be restructured.

Judge Lockette said Thursday afternoon, “We have been staggering court proceedings and sessions to reduce the number of persons present in our courtrooms at any given time, and of course to comply with social distancing with the various markings in this courtroom.”

For prosecutors though, it’s a long road ahead as reopening the courts continues.

With nearly 300 cases to handle, with various degrees of crime in each, the more serious offenses will be handled first.

Judge Lockette explains that, “We had a number of cases, even before COVID-19 that needed to be addressed, and they were being addressed, but the shutdown has increased that backlog tremendously. Because until a case is indicted, we can’t move forward.”

While there isn’t a timetable for how long it will take the courts to catch up on the hundreds of cases that have had to be held off, making sure they can even hold trials is the focus for now.

Regardless, the Judicial System wants to make sure that everyone involved whether its judge, prosecutor, or juror are able to perform their civic duties safely.

“It’s important that we want everyone particularly citizens who may be called upon to come and serve as grand jurors to know that we’re taking every precaution and safeguard to protect their health and perform this very important civic responsibility,” says Judge Lockette.

Judge Lockett says that as of Monday, the Judicial System had sent out more than 300 summons for jurors.