Judge Sylvia Matthews issued the following update on the status of Harris County courts:
201 Caroline: The Harris County Civil Courthouse sustained minimal damage in the storm and reopened Sept. 5.
Jury Trials: The civil district courts will not call cases for jury trials in September or October.
Courtroom Locations: The Criminal Justice Center sustained significant damage and will remain closed indefinitely due to flooding and other related damage. Most of the displaced criminal district courts will move to 201 Caroline. The civil district, family district, and county probate courts will combine courtrooms to make room for the criminal district courts.
Starting Sept. 11, the four civil courts on floors 9-12 will be sharing two courtrooms. Two criminal district courts will be assigned to the open courtroom. For example, the 11th and the 55th will be using the 55th courtroom.
Information about the sharing of courts will be available on the justex.net website.
Security: We have asked the Constable Alan Rosen to open all four security lines to screen visitors.
Elevators: Three of the six elevators serving the upper floors are under repair. By assigning some of the criminal courts to the lower floors, we hope to minimize the impact on the working upper level elevators. The freight elevator will be available for use. Allow an extra 15 minutes for security and elevator time.