Imperial County Courts to close or reduce operations
Closure in response to coronavirus pandemic
EL CENTRO, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) - The Superior Court of California, County of Imperial announced Thursday afternoon it has decided to effectively close and reduce court operations. The closure will take effect Monday, March 23 and extend through Tuesday, March 31.
The Brawley and Winterhaven courthouses will close completely during this time. The main El Centro courthouse will open only for limited services pertaining to essential court functions, including those that protect the rights of children and defendants, and those that protect the public safety.
THE COURT WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR:
The main El Centro Courthouse will be open only for those who have restraining order paperwork or other emergency requests filled out and ready to file, or for law enforcement for emergency orders, search warrants, and critical arrest warrants where public safety is concerned. Additionally, it will also provide:
- Phone service for payments and inquiries regarding jury service and scheduling of court cases
- In-custody arraignments held via video conference
- Emergency Hearings
THE COURT WILL BE CLOSED FOR:
- All civil procedures will be rescheduled.
- All Unlawful Detainer (UD) matters will be rescheduled.
- All criminal proceedings including out-of-custody arraignments, readiness, pre-trial motions, and sentencing
- Family court department is closed - all family court counseling and mediation matters will be rescheduled.
- The Access Center will be closed.
- All clinics and workshops will be cancelled.
- All family support matters will be rescheduled.
- No jury jury trials will be held for at least the next thirty days. Jurors who have received a summons will not be ordered to report but will be required to call in once to meet their yearly service requirement.
- All juvenile dependency and delinquency matters will be continued.
- All adoption and citation calendars will be continued.
- All probate hearings will be continued.
- All traffic matters will be rescheduled.
- All Small Claims matters will be continued.
