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As local governments brace for the impact of coronavirus spreading across the world and in Hamilton County, local judges are avoiding evictions. General Sessions Court Judge Christie Sell said she is hoping to balance compassion and constitutionality as she navigates her role in evictions and other court matters amid the growing pandemic.
The Tennessee Supreme Court issued a suspension of all in-person hearings until March 31, 2020, with limited exceptions. Eviction cases, also known as detainer actions, are not an exception to the order, Sell explained, meaning evictions filed after March 12, 2020, cannot be heard until after March 31, 2020, or as otherwise extended by the state.
“Because the Clerks’ offices are still open, cases can still be filed but the hearings are postponed,” Sell wrote in an email to the Times Free Press Saturday. “We are currently setting the eviction cases for April or later as dockets reach capacity. The delays will be mitigated by scheduling the dockets for every day of the week rather than only on Mondays as before. The eviction proceedings will be scheduled for 8:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. with no more than 10 cases on each docket to minimize how many people are in court at any given time.”
The later dates and spread-out hearings reflect a broader goal of the county to encourage social distancing during the crisis, Austin Garrett, a chief deputy for the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, said.