The Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Court of Common Pleas has canceled jury trials and jury duty for two weeks in an effort to combat the spread of COVID-19. Part of those efforts have also included asking the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to declare a "judicial emergency" in the district, and suspend state rules guaranteeing speedy trial rights to criminal defendants.

Montgomery County in suburban Philadelphia is the third-largest jurisdiction in Pennsylvania.

Court Administrator Michael Kehs issued an order late Thursday saying that both criminal and civil trials, as well as jury duty and certain criminal court proceedings, have been suspended through March 27. All other court matters will remain as scheduled, the order said.

Kehs' announcement came after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued an order granting requests from Montgomery County President Judge Thomas DelRicci to modify several administrative and procedural rules in an effort to stem the spread of the virus that has seen significant growth in the county over the past week. One of the modifications DelRicci has sought is to suspend Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal Procedure 600 for two weeks starting Friday. That rule grants defendants the right to a speedy trial.

Rule 600 says prosecutors "must bring a defendant to trial within 365 days from the date upon which a written criminal complaint is filed."

The justices, however, did not immediately grant that part of DelRicci's request.

In their one-page order Thursday, the justices announced they would hold the request under advisement, and would allow parties until no later than noon March 16 to file objections to the proposal.

The moves come as Montgomery County and other courts and agencies in the state have begun taking steps to combat the spread of coronavirus, which has continued to grow over the past week in Pennsylvania.

Attorneys on Thursday were also notified by the state Department of Corrections that the agency was temporarily prohibiting attorneys from visiting all correctional institutions in the state. The move is part of the agency's announcement to cancel all visits to state prisons in order to limit contact with inmates and staff, a spokeswoman said Thursday.

"We expect attorney in-person visits to resume next week once a procedure is developed. Until procedure is developed, we have private phone rooms inmates can use to speak with their attorneys," Susan McNaughton told The Legal.

On the state appellate court front, the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts announced Thursday that Commonwealth Court President Judge Mary Hannah Leavitt has also rescheduled upcoming oral arguments set to begin next week. The AOPC's statement said arguments that had been scheduled to take place in Philadelphia from March 17 through March 19 have been rescheduled to take place in Harrisburg from March 24 through March 26. The announcement also indicated that affected attorneys could seek a continuance if needed.

Coronavirus has spread across Europe and America, forcing closures of schools, sporting events and law firms in an effort to stem the tide. According to a state Department of Health press conference Thursday, there are 21 presumptive coronovirus cases in Pennsylvania, with nearly all of those cases in the eastern side of the state. During the press conference, which announced that all Montgomery County schools would close for two weeks, Wolf said the county was the epicenter of the outbreak in Pennsylvania.

Although most courts in Pennsylvania have so far taken a wait-and-see approach to the virus, Montgomery County has already taken aggressive steps to mitigate the spread.

Kehs circulated a memo to judges and court staff throughout the district, which modified an order he sent out Wednesday, outlining numerous procedures and restrictions the court system is putting in place to help fight coronavirus, which first appeared in Montgomery County over the weekend.

The memo said that, among other things, the juvenile court will be canceling certain non-essential scheduling through March 27, payments to magisterial district courts for traffic cases will need to be made online, and all bibles will be removed from courtrooms.

READ THE MEMO:

As of Monday, federal courts in the state and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit all said they were monitoring the situation. On Tuesday, a spokesman for the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas also said court leadership was monitoring the guidance from the AOPC, the Philadelphia Health Department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Allegheny County Court Administrator Christopher Connors said court leadership had been meeting regularly about the coronavirus and what essential operations will need to be maintained if the outbreak spreads to Allegheny County. In the short term, he said the court administration was looking into ways to minimize large groups of people coming together, and had placed orders for additional hand soaps and disinfectants to be used at the courthouse.