March 22, 2020
Media Release By Valerie Hartman, PIO
The Court has an obligation to stay open during this time of community concern over the spread of the COVID-19 virus as the judiciary provides an essential service to the public. Access to justice will continue in the community. However, the way that the Court will provide that justice will change to hearings done remotely rather than in person unless warranted.
Starting at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, March 24, 2020 and through 5:00 p.m. on Friday, April 24, 2020, there will be no-person proceedings, hearings or conferences held in court buildings except in extreme circumstances. All court hearings will be conduced by telephone, video conferencing or any other method that does not require the physical presence of persons in court buildings.
If an alternative type of hearing held in the manner above will not work, the judge may hold hearings in extreme circumstances in cases of an emergency nature. A full listing of the types of cases when hearings may be held are included in Administrative Order 2020-064. During this time, all jury trials between now and April 20, 2020 will be continued.
All hearings on full orders of protection that are scheduled or would have been scheduled for the weeks of March 30, 2020 through April 20, 2020 will be continued for sixty days from the date of the currently scheduled hearing or the hearing that would have been scheduled during that time. All ex parte orders of protection currently in existence and all ex parte orders that are entered through April 24, 2020 are continued until a new hearing date.
Only judicial staff, vendors or those participating in a hearing will be allowed entry by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department into the courthouse. The Court will continue to provide assistance to pro se litigants (who are representing themselves) who are filing documents and to people seeking an order of protection. The manner in which that will done will be posted soon to the Court’s website, Court’s Facebook, courthouse doors or the public can contact the following phone numbers for assistance.
If you need information about the status of your case go to Missouri Case.net or contact the Court at these phone numbers:
Civil Records Kansas City – (816) 881-3920
Civil Records Independence – (816) 881-4524
Criminal Records Kansas City (816) 881-4351
Criminal Records Independence – (816) 881-4500
Probate – (816) 881-3755
Jury – (816) 881-3602
Order of Protection regarding adult/child abuse – (816) 881-3974
The Court’s website is www.16thcircuit.org.
The Court’s Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/SixteenthJudicialCircuit/
