CARBON COUNTY, Pa. — The Carbon County Courthouse is ready to welcome jurors back into the courtroom next week.
To make those reporting feel comfortable, several safety and social distancing measures have been put into place.
Plexiglass barriers have been installed at the witness stand and in front of the judge, jury chairs are spread across a large area, allowing for six feet of social distancing, and for any juror who cannot wear a mask, a clear facial shield will be provided.
Commissioners tell us their goal is to make jurors feel comfortable when they report.
"People are usually, they're afraid to come to courts in the first place, because they're thinking, 'OK, I'm going to be in that murder trial, I don't want to be on that,' and we don't want them to feel uncomfortable on top of the virus that they don't want to come in here," said Carbon County Commissioner Rocky Ahner.
The newest cleaning tool is a fogger device. It effectively sprays a disinfect onto any surface it is pointed at.
Officials tell Newswatch 16 that grant money was used to buy 15 of the devices to clean larger areas of the courtroom.
The Administrator's office at the Carbon County Courthouse sent out a COVID-19 questionnaire for jurors to gauge whether or not they would be comfortable to serve on a jury.
"I think, speaking for every judge in this county, that if we thought we were endangering people by coming to this courthouse, this courtroom, to the jury trials, we would not do so. We are fully confident and comfortable that we've taken every measure that we can," said Carbon County Judge Roger Nanovic.
The first trial is set to start Monday, August 3.