An Inefficient Court System Costs You Money.
While there is no statutory requirement as to when court begins in
North Carolina, the majority of counties begin District Court at 9:00
am. Some counties, such as Mecklenburg and Gaston, have both a morning
and an afternoon session while others such as Union and Cabarrus have
one court session that will continue into the afternoon if all of the
cases on the docket are not reached by the lunch break.
As a general rule, in criminal court, the district attorney in the
courtroom will call the docket which is a list of all cases on before
the court on that particular session. Usually cases designated for
guilty pleas are taken first, while cases set for trial are reserved for
the end of the session. There are often cases for which one side or
the other is requesting a continuance. This can often be done by mutual
agreement of the district attorney and the defense, but if either side
does not agree, then the matter must be brought before the judge who
will decide whether or not to grant the continuance.
One of the problems that may arise is that until the judge comes on the
bench, no pleas, trials or opposed continuances can be addressed. There
are many times when judges do not come into the courtroom for 1 to 2
hours after the session has begun. When this occurs, individuals,
whether they be lawyers or the public, who have matters which require
judicial oversight must simply sit around and wait. This is especially
troublesome for members of the public who are missing work because they
are either a witness or a party to the case. Lost income is not
recoverable simply because an individual had to sit in court all day.
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