By james art 
The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic change the face of judicial proceedings in West Virginia, which allows many hearing to move online.
As MPs seek to reduce government spending, some correction staff are calling for expansion of virtual pandemic conferences technology from the pandemic era to reduce prison staff to court and travel costs. Others in the field of criminal justice have warned that virtual lawsuits remain imperfect and require special attention before the expansion.
Several Western Virginians participating in the field of adjustments and criminal justice appeared in front of the Horset of the Western Virginia Chamber of Delegates for a meeting on Thursday morning. These persons were invited to “give us their experience” to deal with “inefficiency” in the Judicial System of the Western Virginia, said Commission President del Phil Malow, R-Marion.
Last year, the Department of Correction and Rehabilitation in West Virginia (WVDCR) transported persons over 1370 800 miles between its 18 prisons and prisons and state court courts for personal court proceedings, according to WVDCR assistant commissioner Scott Patterson.
It costs the state approximately $ 3.4 million and required nearly $ 82,000 staff from correction staff, Patterson testified at the subcommittee meeting on Thursday.
In 2020, WVCDR staff costs and travel expenses for court proceedings are only part of the 2024 data, for example, the Southern Central Regional Prison transported persons about 94,000 miles last year, but only 2600 in 2020. This was thanks to The broader use of remote hearing technology.
“We have the ability to make many of these hearing through video,” Patterson said. “It’s a huge cost savings.”
The softening of public health restrictions in the pandemic era has led to the resumption of hearing in personal people.
Patterson said that certain court proceedings, as evidential hearing for criminal processes, were and should be conducted in person. But he stands out for other proceedings, such as hearing for a guarantee, to move virtually.
Rodney Miller, CEO of the Sheriffs Association of West Virginia, sounded the perspective of Patterson. For law enforcement officers, he described the transport of persons to court proceedings such as “drain staff”.
“By transporting prisoners to the judges, one, it is a burden of [the WVDCR] To bring them here. They will have to come back and take them, “he said. “This is also a burden for the counties because the counties will have to make staff sit with these prisoners and watch them.”
Miller said that different cities are implementing legal transport policies in different ways based on local needs and opportunities. Western Virginia’s legislature may adopt policies that change judicial operations, but these policies are first interpreted by the Supreme Court of Appeal of the West Virginia, after which they are applied by the courts locally.
This may mean that law enforcement officers must spend additional hours accompanying the defendants in order to meet the needs of the court, according to Miller.
“There are policies, as I understand it,” he said. “But you still have authoritarian figures who do the way they want to do in their locals.”
Justin Herserger is a public defender of Monongalia County. He told the public broadcast in West Virginia that remote conferences technology could work for “smaller questions” in court, but could cause hiccups for longer hearing and criminal proceedings.
When the defendant is in the same room as his advice during a trial, he can quietly ask them questions or provide comments throughout the process.
But the lawyer often joins remote hearing into practice, said Herserber. This makes it difficult to communicate with the defendant and may require the whole process to be paused if a person wants to talk to his lawyer.
“If a client, a criminal defendant, there is a question during a hearing for his lawyer, we cannot answer this without all leaving the room and conducting a discussion with our client,” said Hesheberger. “We can be so prepared, but sometimes our client wants to whisper something to us.”
Allowing lawyers to participate in a hearing from the same remote location as their client can remedy some of these issues, but this will move the travel time and mileage of the defense lawyers, said Hershberger.
For Monongalia County, “Our prison is an hour and 15 minutes,” he said. “So to travel to prison and to attend our client, it’s a whole half day.”
From his experience, Herserger also said that hearing in personal people usually took less time and “managed less” as there are fewer pauses to allow confidential conversations between the defendant and their lawyer.
Nevertheless, the defendants have a constitutional right to attend “all the critical stages of the procedure personally,” he added. Hersberger said it was the obligation of the state to maintain the constitutional right of every resident of a fair process.
“They really need to focus and make sure they do not apply to any constitutional right to attend personally,” he said.