On any given day, there are usually about 3,000 people in Rhode Island’s Garrahy Judicial Complex. Judges, clerks, plaintiffs, defendants, witnesses, attorneys, and family members stream through the building to reach the District Court, Family Court and Workers Compensation Court.
“In our pre-pandemic era, there’s no room to social distance,” said Steven Flores, an attorney with Rhode Island Legal Services. “Sometimes you walk through that hallway and you feel like it’s Black Friday and you’re at the shopping center. It’s that kind of crowded.”
Beginning today, the courthouse is opening for non-emergency cases.
According to court spokesperson Craig Berke, only two District Court judges will be on duty on any given day, and they’ll each hear fewer cases than normal in order to allow for social distancing. Instead of asking everyone to show up at 9 am, parties will be given staggered times to appear. Everyone will be screened for symptoms of COVID-19 at the door, and sheriffs will be enforcing social distancing.
And expect to see more people taking the stairs because only two people will be allowed in an elevator at a time. 
When the District Court suspended non-emergency cases in March, there were 360 eviction cases pending in Rhode Island. The court is sending out notices for those cases today, and hearings will resume in another 10 days.
Housing advocates fear the state will see a flood of new eviction filings, as many Rhode Islanders have struggled to pay rent while the coronavirus stalls the economy. But new evictions won’t be processed until July 1 at the earliest, as the court focuses on working through the backlog.
Governor Gina Raimondo on Thursday said the state is working with the District Court, the United Way and other stakeholders to expand mediation for eviction cases.
“The vast, huge proportion of [evictions] cases are resolved through an informal process in the hallway at the courthouse. Now, I think we have to replan and rethink because we don’t want that kind of congregate setting in the hallway, but maybe we can create an alternative space for those agreements to be reached,” explained Jennifer Wood, director of the Rhode Island Center for Justice.
Wood added, diverting eviction cases to mediation can reduce crowding at the courthouse, while offering landlords and tenants a legal pathway to resolve disputes.
According to the courts, thousands of cases have already been heard remotely in Workers’ Compensation Court and Traffic Tribunal during the pandemic. Family Court judges have also been hearing cases remotely since late April. And the courts will continue to hear cases remotely whenever possible.
During a pre-trial divorce conference held via WebEx last week, Judge Sandra Lanni told the attorneys about some of the challenges of the new system.
“Please do not ask for continuances at the last minute. You’re not gonna get them,” Lanni said. “The scheduling of these remote hearings — to say that it has been complicated and difficult is the understatement of the year. We cannot fit as many in as we used to.”
So this is not a return to normal courtroom procedures, but it’s a step in that direction.
It will be a while before the court system is back to normal. Jury trials are on hold until August. And the courthouses in Newport and Washington Counties aren’t set to reopen until September.
