Minnesota Judicial Branch adopts new policy on remote or in-person hearings

WILLMAR — Minnesota courts will be operating under new default hearing settings beginning Feb. 3, 2025. The Minnesota Judicial Council voted in July of 2024 to adopt the new settings.

From now on, all hearings in court cases will be assigned a default setting, either in-person or remote, according to a news release from the Minnesota Judicial Branch.

The default settings will be based on case type. District courts will hold hearings according to the default settings, unless a judge orders a case-by-case exception or a deviation plan is in place.

According to the Minnesota Judicial Branch, judges will be allowed to deviate from the hearing settings based on the needs of a specific case without issuing an order or providing findings.

Requests for case-by-case exceptions can be made by a party or initiated by the court. Agencies, judicial districts, counties and court divisions can request a deviation from statewide settings under certain circumstances.

For example, a district court may want to hold certain hearings remotely rather than in person to increase access to justice partner services or legal representation.

These requests are reviewed and approved by the Judicial Council. Approved deviations are available for adult criminal, juvenile delinquency and non-criminal hearings.

The new framework is the result of direct feedback from court users regarding the use of remote hearings during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a statewide survey of court hearing participants, remote hearing attendees reported fewer barriers to attending their hearings than those who attend in person.

The Minnesota Judicial Branch wrote in its news release, “the new district court hearing settings reflect both the Minnesota Judicial Branch’s commitment to using in-person and remote hearings to deliver justice in Minnesota and the lessons learned and feedback gathered over the past two years under the oneCourtMN Hearings Initiative.”