Putnam Courts Back To Normal After COVID Backlog

Putnam County Court System has fully caught up on the backlog of cases caused by the pandemic.

Early discussions indicated it could take years to catch up, due to requirements from the Tennessee Supreme Court slowing the process. Circuit Court Clerk Jennifer Wilkerson said the work of attorneys, judges, and court staff paired with new electronic capabilities made the catch-up possible.

“That they could do a video conferencing or presentation of evidence where evidence wouldn’t have to be touched by multiple people and evidence could be presented in a fashion in a courtroom in a case,” Wilkerson said. “We changed the way we called in juries and the way we were bringing people and seating them for trial.”

Wilkerson said courts never closed down fully during the pandemic. She said adjustments were needed to accommodate the emergent cases, including vulnerable populations, those where safety was an issue, and those where constitutional rights were affected.

Wilkerson said at this point, things are operating at a normal, pre-COVID pace. She said court staff and judges did a great job of working together to make sure things went back on track.