LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Kentucky Chief Justice John Minton has ordered Jefferson County to address what he calls a “shocking backlog” of nearly 22,000 lower-level criminal cases that haven’t received a court hearing during the pandemic.
“In just over seven months, inaction by the Jefferson District Court has resulted in an inexcusable delay for thousands of citizens,” Minton told chief Jefferson District Judge Anne Haynie in a letter dated Thursday. WDRB obtained a copy of the letter.
Minton said in the letter that Jefferson County’s backlog, which is unparalleled in any of Kentucky’s other 119 counties, even adjusting for population, stems from the District Court’s insistence on holding criminal hearings in person rather than virtually, as it has done for civil matters such as evictions.
Trial attorney Brian Butler said the Courts are doing what they can to keep up.
"They are doing some in person dockets, they are doing remote dockets, they are giving the people the option of coming to court if they want to, they are giving people the option of appearing remotely," he said.
Butler said Minton's letter was sent too soon, and the courts need more time.
"To me that is too tough. None of us have ever been through this before. None of the judges that are running that courthouse have been through this before," he said. "I think they are making a strong effort to move these cases."
Minton wrote there are “abundant judicial and technology resources available in Jefferson County,” and he ordered Haynie to produce a plan by Oct. 30 for conducting criminal cases virtually as well as in person.
Minton wrote:
At a time when courts across the Commonwealth have successfully adapted to conducting remote civil and criminal dockets, I was very concerned to learn that Jefferson District Court’s criminal dockets have only been held in-person. This inflexibility and unwillingness to acclimate to the changing environment created by the pandemic has resulted in a shocking backlog in your criminal cases, with nearly 22,000 criminal cases awaiting a hearing. This backlog did not pre-exist the pandemic and no other county, even adjusting for size, has anything remotely approaching it. That means in just over seven months, inaction by the Jefferson District Court has resulted in an inexcusable delay for thousands of citizens. This is concerning and, quite frankly, unacceptable.
Haynie did not immediately return a call for comment Friday afternoon.
Minton’s letter focuses only on Jefferson District Court, which deals with less serious criminal charges such as misdemeanors. The more serious cases, felonies, are tried in Jefferson Circuit Court.
Leigh Anne Hiatt, public information officer for the Kentucky Administrative Office of the Courts, confirmed Friday that Minton has not sent a similar letter related to Jefferson Circuit Court.
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