Transition plans for the new Duval County Courthouse were announced at a recent meeting of The Jacksonville Bar Association.
Members were encouraged to attend the association’s annual meeting May 17 at the Deerwood Country Club for an update on the transition, but information was given to the membership by The JBA President Michael Freed from Circuit Judge Mallory Cooper.
• The current courthouse building will close at 5 p.m. on May 18 and the move will begin. It will not reopen.
• The new courthouse will open for business on Tuesday, May 29, after the three-day Memorial Day weekend.
• The new address is 501 W. Adams St., 32202.
• Room assignments have not been made. For now, notice hearings with reference to the judge by name will be re-noticed once the room assignments are made and publicized.
• During the transition, J1 and J2 proceedings will be uninterrupted and will take place as always adjacent to the detention center.
• During the transition, traffic court (civil and criminal) and small claims court also will be uninterrupted, continuing to take place at the Beach Boulevard location. However, within six months, small claims and criminal traffic courts will be moved from Beach Boulevard to the new courthouse.
• During the transition, the Jury Assembly Room in the former City Hall, now known as the Duval County Courthouse Annex, will be the site of duty judges for each division (felony, civil, family and county) to handle emergencies; domestic violence injunction proceedings; and clerk of court filings that would otherwise be received at the closed courthouse.
• Delinquency proceedings will continue to take place at the Juvenile Detention Center on Eighth Street.
• Dependency proceedings:
- Judge David Gooding will be the duty judge for dependency each day of the week that neither the old or new courthouse is open for proceedings, May 21-25. Gooding and his Judicial Assistant Cindy Cribbs will process U.S. mail daily and respond to any emergencies.
- Shelter petitions hearings will be held during the week of transition to the new courthouse, May 21-25, at the Beach Boulevard location in courtroom B-4, which can be reached at 630-5258. From Monday-Thursday, shelter hearings will be at 1:30 p.m. daily, as usual. Shelter hearings will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday, May 25.
- Inmates cannot be transported to Beach Boulevard. For any case where the client’s appearance is not waived, defense counsel is responsible for making arrangements for a telephonic appearance by clients. For information, call 630-5258.
• The last foreclosure hearings at the existing courthouse will take place on May 14 and will resume in the new courthouse on June 11.
• The last foreclosure sales will take place on May 16 and will resume on June 11.