April 16, 2021
From the very beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Judicial Branch has carefully and
regularly monitored its workplaces and evaluated its operations to assure that judicial business
is being conducted safely and in compliance with guidance from the Department of Public
Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As more and more COVID restrictions are being lifted or modified and as more and more
Connecticut residents are being vaccinated against the virus, the Judicial Branch is now in a
position to cautiously and incrementally move forward with plans to further increase the scope
and volume of judicial business being conducted by its judges and employees.
Judicial Branch facilities’ personnel are currently conducting comprehensive safety inspections
in certain courthouses where operations have been suspended, with the goal of making any
modifications to those facilities as may be required to allow for the safe, socially distanced
return of courthouse staff and judges and to further allow for the safe resumption of judicial
business in those locations. The following courthouses are currently being inspected and
updated with the goal of resuming operations in those courthouses as of May 17, 2021:
– Geographical Area No. 5 courthouse located at 106 Elizabeth St. in Derby
– Geographical Area No. 10 courthouse located at 112 Broad St. in New London
– Geographical Area No. 12 courthouse located at 410 Center St. in Manchester
– Judicial District Courthouse located at 155 Church St. in Putnam
– Juvenile Matters at Rockville located at 25 School St. in Rockville
In addition to facility safety enhancements, plans are also underway to expand the scope and
volume of criminal dockets in all open GA courthouses by summoning, on a staggered basis
throughout the court day, a larger number of the cases that are currently pending on the
docket. Doing so will allow judges, working with the state’s attorneys and defense counsel, an
opportunity to reduce the backlog of cases pending on the criminal dockets.
As the Judicial Branch embarks upon this effort to resume operations in more of its facilities
and increase the volume of judicial business being conducted each day, we will continue to
carefully monitor operations and make any adjustments that may be necessary. The goal is to
safely return to near normal operations over the next few months.