Following the emergency order extensions issued by Gov. Kim Reynolds on Thursday, Chief Justice, Susan Christensen, followed with an updated Supervisory Order for the courts. District courts will be allowed to continue with in-person business in specific incidences, such as trials that are already in progress and criminal and emergency matters that cannot be continued or done by video conferencing. Any non-jury trials that were scheduled to begin before June 1 will be continued to another date after June 1. Jury trials scheduled to begin prior to July 13 will be continued and reset to a later date. The courts will give priority to criminal jury trials and those where the right to a speedy trial has not been waived and the defendant is in custody. The order encourages judicial officers to consider pretrial release options and magistrates and judicial officers will be allowed to conduct initial appearances by telephone or video conferencing. Grand jury proceedings are suspended until July 13 and civil jury trials scheduled to begin before Aug. 3 will be continued to a date beyond that. A link to the full order can be found below.
________________________________
April 2, 2020 Supervisory Order: https://www.iowacourts.gov/static/media/cms/04022020_order_4CB0361DDD678.pdf
