During the past year, a large amount of proceedings relegated to Zoom and other video-conferencing platforms.
The scheduled trial is a sign of an eventual return to full normalcy for the courts, but when exactly that will happen is still unknown, said Mark Jones, chief judge of the 16th Judicial Circuit. Jones will be presiding over the felony trial next month. He said one trial was already on the schedule for April, but it ended in a plea agreement.
The 16th Circuit has not been immune to the backlog of cases that have built up all around the state, according to Jones. But he is confident that the challenges presented are ânot dauntingâ and the caseload will be managed without having to bring in additional judges, he said.