CHARLESTON — The Intermediate Court of Appeals of West Virginia has been recognized as one of 12 courts nationwide by the National Center for State Courts for its satellite courtroom project as a model for state courts.
Chief Judge Thomas Scarr said since the ICA began, the satellite courtroom system has worked practically seamlessly and the panel of judges has not found a difference between those being at the Charleston courtroom in person or at one of the satellite courtrooms around the state.
"We did find, and this may surprise people and it may be something that does need to be communicated, that we have not found any difference in either the quality of the arguments or the effectiveness of the oral arguments, whether the person is in person or at one of the satellites," Scarr said in an interview with The West Virginia Record. "There really is no disadvantage being in a remote courtroom over being in Charleston in the main courtroom. And, there's no disadvantage to one party if they're in a satellite and the other party or their council are in Charleston in person. The system is of such quality that they come across just fine over the professional grade system that we use."
Litigants can choose between the main courtroom in Charleston or the satellite courtrooms in Petersburg, which is in Grant County; Weston, which is in Lewis County; Berkeley Springs, which is in Morgan County; Beckley, which is in Raleigh County; and New Martinsville, which is in Wetzel County.
Scarr said the court uses a large screen television that is mounted on the podium that the lawyers use and a button can be pressed to raise it up to the same height so that the person in the satellite office is at the same height as anyone who is in person.
"They have direct eyesight with us between the lawyers and the judges," Scarr said. "We were all skeptical at first, as we were all practicing attorneys for many years, but, the experience with the pandemic and then our experience on this court, I think, we can all confidently say that there is no disadvantage to using a satellite courtroom to argue your case before our court. There are even many advantages to going to the satellite courts."
Scarr said the satellite courts are spaced throughout the state so that no one would have to travel more than 90 minutes to get to one of the satellite courts or to Charleston to the main court. That decision was made to make sure the court system was as accessible as possible to everyone in the state.
Scarr said arguing in front of the court can sometimes only last anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes and if someone is traveling from the other side of the state, that can be a really long drive.
"That is an enormous amount of time, and you'd likely have to stay the night, so being able to use these satellite offices and get back home can save a considerable amount of time and money," Scarr said.
The ICA averages about 50 to 60 cases each month and of those, only about 17% go to oral arguments. Of that 17%, 19% have been done in a satellite courtroom.
Other courts that were recognized by the National Center for State Courts included Alaska's Fourth Judicial District Rabinowitz Courthouse; Arizona's Mohave County Superior Court; Arkansas' Mississippi County Courthouse; Indiana's Adams County Circuit and Superior Courts, Adams County Judicial Center; Indiana's Marion County Superior & Circuit Courts, Community Justice Campus; Minnesota's Clay County District Court; New York's Columbia County Supreme Court Courtroom 212 Remodel; Utah's Salt Lake City Justice Court; Utah's Second Judicial District Davis County Second District Courthouse Project; and Washington's Olympia Municipal Court.