Judge may tighten courthouse COVID-19 restrictions

SAN ANTONIO – While city and county leaders consider relaxing COVID-19 restrictions, District Court Administrative Judge Ron Rangel is moving in the opposite direction.

Rangel said, “I may tighten restrictions that apply to in-person hearings.”

Judge to accelerate Zoom proceedings

Since jury trials were canceled indefinitely last month in order to comply with safe distancing requirements, courts have been operating under a two-judge system for in-person hearings.

Rangel said that may not be necessary since most judges have been conducting hearings remotely through a system called Zoom.

The program allows all participants, including jailed defendants, to participate through the remote live connection.

COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new virus, stands for coronavirus disease 2019. The disease first appeared in late December 2019 in Wuhan, China, but spread around the world in early 2020, causing the World Health Organization to declare a pandemic in March. The first case confirmed in the U.S. was in mid-January and the first case confirmed in San Antonio was in mid-February.

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