RestartOhio: Federal courthouses in Dayton, Cincinnati, Columbus to reopen June 1

DAYTON — The federal courthouses in Dayton, Cincinnati and Columbus will reopen Monday, officials with the U.S District Court for the Southern District of Ohio said.

The Walter H. Rice Courthouse in Dayton, Joseph P. Kinneary Courthouse in Columbus and the Potter Stewart Courthouse in Cincinnati will reopen at 8 a.m., officials with the Southern District said Friday.

The courthouses will reopen for on-site proceedings at the discretion of the individual judicial officers. The court will resume grand jury proceedings as well Monday and will not hold jury proceedings before June 22.

All visitors (including but not limited to jurors or potential jurors, contractors, Naturalization petitioners, and attorneys) and employees will be required to wear face coverings of masks to get into the courthouses. They also must wear facial coverings in the public common areas of the courthouses, including restrooms and break rooms.

Employees and visitors will be required to follow social distancing and public health protocols.

All visitors will be subject to temperature screenings at courthouse entrances and will be denied admittance if they have a temperature in excess of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit. Visitors denied admittance will be asked to telephone the office, agency, or chambers to which they sought admittance to complete the business they came to transact, or to explore alternatives to entering the courthouse.

The court also has entered a new order that extends the suspension of naturalization proceedings until June 11, and another of the CARES Act to allow the option for video teleconference hearings in certain criminal proceedings, with the consent of the defendant.

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