Riley County District Court eyeing Wareham as jury selection site

Savannah Rattanavong, The Manhattan Mercury, Kan.
·2 min read

May 17—Riley County District Court officials are looking into using the Wareham Opera House as a site to hold the jury selection process to better allow for physical distancing.

Chief Judge Grant Bannister provided a brief update on district court affairs to the Riley County Commission on Monday.

The court had been holding jury trials at Rock Hills Church, which had been loaning its space at the former movie theater at 2610 Farm Bureau Road for free, since late 2020.

That agreement expired over the spring as the church indicated it would need the space back and the county encountered some sublease problems, so Bannister and other involved entities visited the Wareham as a leading option to move jury selection. Larger cases, like criminal jury trials, may require dozens of potential jurors in a room at a time. Bannister said the courthouse wouldn't be able to hold them efficiently, even without taking into account the need for physical distancing.

"I think it matches our needs well, so if we can reduce to writing terms and provisions, then I anticipate we'll be using that for a period of time, just for jury selection I think," Bannister said. "We'll see. It's possible a trial could end up being held there, but I think we could get back into our courtrooms for the trial itself after we whittle down to the 12 jurors or 12 with an alternate or two as needed."

District Court Administrator Dalanna Nichols said in an email the court's last jury trial was held in March. While it has since had other trials scheduled, those all have been settled, rescheduled or canceled. While the contract is still in the works, she said court officials anticipate paying $200 per day for use of the Wareham.

Bannister said district chief judges will meet with Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Marla Luckert this week to see how they're feeling about potentially easing coronavirus safety restrictions in courthouses. He predicted it would be much slower than the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention's recent lifting of mask wearing recommendations for vaccinated individuals because many people are obligated to come to the courthouse.

Bannister said Riley County Counselor Clancy Holeman likely would bring back a draft of approval terms before the commission in the near future.