General Sessions Civil Court
Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee
30th Judicial District
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN TO RESUME IN-PERSON COURT PROCEEDINGS
FOR GENERAL SESSIONS CIVIL COURT, 30TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT
On March 13, 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chief Justice of the
Tennessee Supreme Court declared a state of emergency for the Judicial Branch of
Tennessee government. On March 25, 2020 the Tennessee Supreme Court
continued the suspension of in-person Court proceedings and extension of
deadlines. On April 24, 2020, the Tennessee Supreme Court entered an Order
Modifying Suspension of In-Person Court Proceedings and further extension of
deadlines.
The target date to resume in-person hearings is June 15, 2020. Pursuant to the
mandate of the Supreme Court of the State of Tennessee, the following is
proposed:

A. Admission to Courthouse:
1) Only litigants and lawyers appearing on the docket will be allowed in the
courtroom.
2) Only persons who have business with the Clerk’s Office (i.e. filing of
lawsuits, receive records, etc.) shall be allowed into the Courthouse.
3) No spectators, friends or other individuals who have no Courthouse
business will be permitted in the Courthouse.
a. Pursuant to approval by the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, Courthouse
security personnel shall inform anyone attempting to enter the
Courthouse that entry is restricted to those with business and/or
case(s) and signs to this effect will be posted at the entryway prior to
entry.
b. The Courthouse has previously closed entryways in the interest of
security. The Courthouse is 4 stories, including a basement. There is
an entryway on the 2nd floor which would allow ingress/egress from
the Circuit and Chancery Courts, which are located on the 2nd and 3rd
floor. There is also a clear entrance for the Probate Court on the 1st
floor on the Southeast corner (the Adams/Third Street entrance). We
also propose to utilize the previously closed door located at the
Northeast corner as an “exit only” door. This door would be manned
with security to prohibit entry, but with no screening equipment since
it is an “exit” only.
c. The General Sessions Civil Courts occupy most of the entire 1st floor
(see layout attached), with the exception of the East side occupied by
Probate Court and Probate Court Clerk.

 d. The second floor entryway can be utilized by the Circuit, Chancery and
Probate Courts (along with the previously mentioned 1st floor entrance
on the Southeast corner). The Washington/Second Street entrance
(on the Northwest corner) will be used exclusively for ingress/egress
for the General Sessions Civil Courts and Court Clerk. This would
require the General Sessions Courts to prohibit use of the entrance at
Adams/Third Street on the Southeast corner for persons conducting
business in General Sessions Court to prevent heavy traffic and close
contact of persons entering/exiting.
4) Clerk’s (when feasible) and/or Court Security Personnel will utilize
screening resources available, such as touchless thermometers and the
relevant COVID-19 health questions prior to entry to the Courthouse for
litigants, attorneys and other individuals who have specific business in the
Courthouse. Court staff and judges will also be subject to health
screening.
5) Masks and gloves will be encouraged and permitted. Masks and gloves
will be provided, if needed and desired, where feasible. Hand sanitizer
will be available in the six (6) General Sessions Courtrooms.
Court
personnel, courtroom staff and judges will be required to wear masks and
optionally gloves and Sheriff’s Officers will also be required to wear masks
and optionally gloves, per order of the Sheriff.

B. Management of Social Distancing in Courtrooms/Docket
Management:
1) Presently the General Sessions Civil Courts have a backlog of
approximately 9,000 cases set, which comprise all of the reset cases from
March, April and May and new cases added in June. With that in mind, the
following is proposed to ensure the safety of litigants, citizens, attorneys
and Court staff/personnel.
a) Attorneys have been requested, prior to the resumption of in-person
hearings, to diligently attempt to contact litigants to resolve as many
cases as possible.
b) Where there are consents, voluntary non-suits, dismissals and other
matters that may not require appearance of any party, these matters
can be prepared by the Clerk’s Office at any time prior to Court date for
the signature of the Court (this, hopefully will reduce the number of inperson appearances).
c) Because of the volume of cases that the General Sessions Court of
Shelby County handles regularly, and the backlog created by the
suspension of in-person hearings, we are also looking at the possibility
of managing and re-scheduling large dockets for the near future while
still maintaining social distancing and safety protocol.

 d) We propose the following to resume in-person hearings on Monday,
June 15, 2020:
1) Only 3 of the 6 divisions of General Sessions Civil Court will hold inperson hearings per day (one on each of the three sides of the
courthouse where General Sessions Civil Court courtrooms are
located.
2) The other 3 courtrooms will be used as waiting areas. No more
than 15 litigants will be allowed in the “active courtroom”, in
addition to the Judge, the Court Officer and the Clerk and the
attorney(s) for the matter(s) before the Court at that time.
3) No more than 15 litigants in the “waiting courtroom” will be
allowed.
4) Additionally, there is more than ample space on each General
Sessions hallway that we can have an additional 20 litigants per
hallway waiting (seating will be provided by the use of portable
chairs). This will allow us to set no more than 50 cases for each of
the three “active divisions” per day, per docket.
5) The three Judges whose courtrooms are “inactive” will be available
in chambers to handle matters that do not require a personal
appearance by a litigant, any presentation of documents requiring
a signature by an attorney, etc.
e) Media requests for access to court proceedings will need to be directed
to the Judge’s administrative office staff (as is our current procedure).
Media access will be allowed to the extent that it is now, at the
discretion of the judge and in compliance with court rules. Social
distancing and maximum capacities will be considered in determining
the extent of media access inside the courtroom.
f) Cleaning and disinfecting will take place in each courtroom and holding
area regularly throughout the day as the flow of litigants and court
personnel allow (as each group is moved out), and most certainly a
thorough cleaning and disinfecting will take place at the conclusion of
each docket and as the holding areas are emptied between sessions
and at the end of each day when the room is cleared.
Hand sanitizer will be regularly available to all litigants, court
personnel and attorneys in each courtroom.
g) Remote accessibility for court hearings is already being utilized to
conduct the Mental Commitment hearings, and will continue to be
utilized for that purpose, as well as any other matters when feasible.
Respectfully submitted,
Judge Lonnie B. Thompson
Administrative Judge
General Sessions Civil Court, Shelby County, Tennessee