SAN ANTONIO – When jury service was put on hold due to concerns over the spread of the novel coronavirus, courtroom activity at the Bexar County Courthouse and Cadena-Reeves Justice Center was nearly shut down entirely in mid-March. Since then, the backlog of felony cases awaiting trial in the county’s 10 criminal district courts has gone beyond 2,300 cases, and that is just felony cases.
There is also a backlog for civil and county court cases.
State district courts in Bexar County preparing to reopen
“We never go into a panic mode,” said Local Administrative Judge Ron Rangel. "Whatever the circumstances create for us, we’re going to resolve that.”
It's a resolution that admittedly will take time.
“I think the recovery is going to last a year or more," Rangel said.
The jury service moratorium is scheduled to be lifted on June 30. Rangel said that in all likelihood, there will be no jury trials until late summer.
COVID-19 pandemic doesn’t stop Bexar County grand juries from meeting