Three people who work at the Jefferson County Courthouse in Hillsboro have tested positive for COVID-19, and people who were there recently may have been exposed to the virus.
Deputy Presiding Judge Brenda Stacey said two Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office employees and a lawyer tested positive for the virus over the past week.
She said the Jefferson County Health Department is conducting contract tracing involving the three people who tested positive.
Because of privacy concerns, those individuals are not identified.
The bailiff – the second person who reported he had tested positive – told authorities he had COVID-19 symptoms on Monday (July 13) before he went home, so anyone on the first floor of the courthouse or in the Div. 15 courtroom on that day may have been exposed. Before he noticed symptoms, he was assigned to the Div. 2 courtroom from July 6-9.
The lawyer who self-reported his positive test told authorities that while he was in the Courthouse on July 10, he wore a mask at all times and practiced social distancing, but spent about 90 minutes in the second-floor hallway and less than 15 minutes in Div. 4.
According to information released by the Jefferson County’s 23rd Circuit, those who were in the courthouse on July 8, July 9 or Monday, particularly those in Div. 2 and Div. 15, are advised to self-quarantine and wait for a Health Department staff member to give further instructions while contact tracing. If in doubt or if you’re exhibiting symptoms of the virus, call your doctor.
After the first Sheriff’s Office employee informed his superiors on Monday that he had tested positive, the County Courthouse was closed the next day, and the building was cleaned and disinfected with an electrostatic fogger.
Business at the Courthouse resumed on Wednesday (July 15), with most judges going to an electronic format, but Stacey said after she learned later in the week that a bailiff and the lawyer also had tested positive, she ordered that most cases before the county’s Circuit Court judges be held by video teleconferencing starting Monday (July 20).
That means the Circuit Court will again follow “Phase Zero” procedures set forth by the Missouri Supreme Court, which allows only a narrow spectrum of cases to be heard in person.
The circuit operated under Phase Zero from mid-March through April.
Under the Supreme Court guidelines, Phase Zero will last 14 days, unless more positive cases are identified.
Hearings that can be heard in person during Phase Zero include certain juvenile proceedings, orders of protection, temporary restraining orders, emergency guardianship matters, time-sensitive matters and public health matters concerning COVID-19.
“Those cases are not required to be held in person, but they can be, if necessary,” Stacey said.
