Court Operations and Public Access to Court Proceedings

Public Access to Court Proceedings

In-person access to courthouses in San Joaquin County will be permitted for those persons appearing at a court hearing or conducting official business with the court. This will generally include and be limited to parties, their attorneys and witnesses subpoenaed to testify, prospective and seated jurors, and courthouse building tenants/occupants.
Members of the press and general public will also be admitted to enter courthouses in San Joaquin County and to observe public proceedings in those courthouses, subject to public health physical distancing requirements and other health and safety guidelines and standards. Judicial officers presiding over courtroom proceedings may limit, or impose other reasonable restrictions upon, public access to their courtrooms and adjacent hallways after making findings on a case-by-case basis that the physical distancing requirements of maintaining at least six (6) feet between all participants and attendees cannot be preserved within the courtroom and surrounding hallways.
Requests from the Media to attend proceedings should be directed to Stephanie Bohrer, the Court’s Public Information Officer at mediarequests@sjcourts.org. Media request forms are available here: Media Request Form. Each request will be sent to the assigned judge for consideration and approval.
Victims may request permission to attend specific proceedings in-person by contacting the District Attorney’s Victim Witness Advocate Program, while litigant family members and the public may submit such requests to the Court Executive Officer (CEO). Submit a request to the CEO at PIO@sjcourts.org.
Consistent with the Court’s Administrative Order, all persons must submit to a temperature screening and wear a face covering to enter any court facility and at time while inside. A person with a fever of 100.4 degrees, or above, or if such person refuses to have his/her temperature checked at the entry to the courthouse, he or she shall be denied access to the courthouse.