SANTA CRUZ — In another unprecedented impact of the coronavirus, local courts are drastically scaling back services — suspending all jury trials for at least a month.

Santa Cruz County Superior Court is suspending all jury trials at least until April 17, including criminal, civil and probate cases, according to Presiding Judge Paul Burdick. Court officials are instructing those who received a jury summons for the interim to disregard them.

The court is suspending collection of fines across all of its cases at least until May 1 and providing 60-day extensions for community service hours.

“We’re limiting our operation only to those matters that present critical needs and which impose statutory time obligations,” Burdick said at a Tuesday news conference in court chambers.

The changes, Burdick added, represent a balance of “the need for public safety with our constitutional obligation to provide access to the courts.”

Elsewhere in the region, a number of Bay Area courts are also reducing services in response to the virus — including in Santa Clara, Alameda and San Mateo counties.

Cases the courts will continue to process involve those who are under arrest and accused of a crime, juveniles detained for criminal conduct, minors requiring protecting from abusive or drug-addicted parents, elders subject to physical and financial abuse, emergency protective orders, gun-violence restraining orders and other cases that pose immediate threats to public safety.

Civil, small-claims, probate and many traffic cases are being continued — meaning suspended — for a minimum of 30 days, and in many cases up to 90 days.

About 200 jury trials had been scheduled between Tuesday and April 17 that will now be continued to a later date, according to Burdick.

Burdick said he applied to California’s Chief Justice for an emergency order to extend time requirements for cases involving those in custody.

Anyone with an upcoming court date was encouraged to contact their attorney for guidance on whether or not they would need to appear.

The Clerk’s Office at the Santa Cruz and Watsonville courthouses are remaining open to the public, at least for now. But court officials are encouraging anyone who is able to do so to make payments, pay fines or check court dates through the court website, santacruzcourt.org, and to call the court to seek further information as opposed to showing up in person.

The Self-Help Center in Watsonville and the Law Library in Santa Cruz are also remaining open, for now. However, more changes could be announced in days and weeks ahead that could impact those services, according to court officials.

The court is also boosting its janitorial services, cleaning chairs, handles and other surfaces on a daily basis to mitigate possible spread of the virus.

Staffing at the county’s two courthouses is being scaled back to what is necessary to support critical functions.

Court employees — and even judges — who are in at-risk groups are being asked to stay home if they choose. Burdick said he is confident the court will continue to have the judges and staffing necessary to carry out its essential functions.

The Santa Cruz County Superior Court has not broadly suspended non-critical cases and operations since the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, according to Burdick,

“What’s happening now is totally unprecedented,” Burdick said. “No one has ever seen or dealt with anything like it.”

Court information

For up-to-date announcements and information from Santa Cruz County Superior Court, visit santacruzcourts.org.