Chief Justice Harold Melton Clears the Way for Grand Juries to Convene

Grand Juries in our area should be convening again, now that Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Harold Melton has cleared the way.

Last week, Melton issued another statewide judicial order keeping jury trials on hold until October 10th.

However, in his order, Judge Melton ordered County Chief Judges to begin now to develop a plan for safely returning to jury trials once he allows them.

There have been no jury trials in Georgia since March, but in his order, Melton said grand juries will not be the same as before the pandemic.

That, he said, is because there are substantial backlogs of unindicted cases. So, he said grand jury proceedings even when resumed will not occur at the scale or with the speed as before the pandemic, and jury trials remain suspended.

No date has yet been announced in Franklin County for the next grand jury, nor in Hart County.

According to the Franklin County Clerk of Courts office, some court proceedings are continuing and have been through the pandemic, but are limited.

Those include for example bond hearings, civil hearings, probate, and pleas.