ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — It's been a two-year slowdown in the operation of the court system in Rock Island County, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"That's created a backlog both in the criminal, the civil divisions," Chief Judge of the 14th Judicial Circuit, Frank Fuhr said. "We have probably one and a half times the number of pending felony cases we had before COVID started."
The Court Administrative Office estimated that one thousand of those backlogged cases date back to pre-pandemic times.
One murder case dates back to 2017.
While the court conducted virtual hearings during the pandemic, they couldn't put jury trials online.
"You really need to be able to see the manner in which they testify. Their facial expressions or body language. That's just not as effective remotely. Also, there's no way to ensure, I don't feel there's any way to ensure the sanctity of the jury process," Judge Fuhr said. "If the jurors are at home, where they could be talking to family about the case and being exposed to outside sources, like things on the internet, that just contaminates the process and doesn't make for a fair trial for either side."
In April of 2020, The Illinois Supreme Court suspended the right to a speedy trial.
The law mandates prosecutors bring defendants to trial within 120 days after going into custody, or 160 days if they are out on bond.
"Even during the time that the Illinois Supreme Court suspended the speedy trial statute, we did not have any defendants that were demanding their speedy trial right being forced, which was a little surprising," Judge Fuhr said.
Though the court only has four courtrooms, they currently have seven jury trials scheduled during the second week of June.
"It is full speed ahead and we're going to get this backlog behind us."