The chief judge of the federal court for the Eastern District of Arkansas has issued an order requiring civil and criminal hearings that cannot be held by telephonic or video conference to be postponed unless the presiding judge determines that the interests of justice require an in-person hearing.
As of Wednesday, no similar order had been filed for the Western District of Arkansas.
"The omicron variant’s extraordinary transmission rate presents challenges for holding trials in January, especially jury trials," said Chief U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall Jr. in an administrative order posted Tuesday. "Our Court, however, will press on — holding the trials that need to be held and continuing those that can wait. We will deploy all of our various mitigation measures (masking, distancing, [multiple] spaces, and staggered start dates) with redoubled vigilance. And we will continue to monitor closely the number of citizens who report that they are unable to serve as jurors for virus-related reasons."
Read Thursday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for more details.