The wheels of justice historically turn slowly, but due to the coronavirus pandemic local courts could experience a dramatic backlog in cases once social distancing restrictions are lifted.

“We will be significantly backed up once courts start up again,” said Patrick Swanson, Chautauqua County district attorney. “We had a lot of cases that were going on in March that have been moved, and now we will have all these cases that are coming in now. It’s going to be a significant challenge.”

Last week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo extended all restrictions and closures through “NYS on PAUSE” to at least May 15. Matters that were scheduled to go before county, city and town courts in April have now been pushed to May if not later.

Because police departments — from the New York State Police, Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office, Jamestown Police Department and others — continue to issue appearance tickets to individuals charged with a range of crimes and violations, courts throughout the county and elsewhere will likely see a flood of cases once they reopen — whenever that might be.

“We’re going to have some challenges here to be able to move these cases along,” Swanson said. “This is so unprecedented, I don’t know if there is a clear picture to be able to do this (once courts open again). It’s definitely going to be a struggle, but we’re going to have to ready ourselves for the flood of cases.”

In mid-March, the New York State Unified Court System announced that all non-essential court functions had been postponed or adjourned. That has included holding trials and sentencing in county court, convening grand juries and even the handling of routine traffic tickets in local town courts.

Arraignments and other essential court matter are still taking place, though via Skype from central locations in Mayville, Jamestown and Dunkirk.

Lori P. Rieman, Cattaraugus County district attorney, said said her office has been trying to move as many cases along as possible in order to “prepare the expected inundation after courts and grand juries can conduct full proceedings.” Her office is providing discovery as quickly as possible and talking to defense attorneys to try and resolve some cases.

In Cattaraugus County Court, Skype and phone conferences are used, and arraignments are still taking place.

“I am hoping we can start to do more pleas soon also,” Rieman said of utilizing digital means to handle county court matters. “Each of my staff has had a chance to catch up and get ahead on as many things as possible. We have already had a trial term canceled and we continue to ensure those cases are still ready to go.”

Swanson, too, said his staff, including investigators, continue to work on certain cases. However, he noted that there is only so much that can be done before having to take a case to a grand jury for an indictment or judge for a hearing, neither of which are considered essential.

“At the moment we can’t present a case to a grand jury,” Swanson said. “And with trials, we don’t know what that’s going to look like. You need to bring in people (for a jury). We would have some challenges here to be able to move cases along.”

Another concern brought up by Swanson and Rieman is funding.

“Staff is going to be a big concern,” said Swanson, noting the financial difficulties that could follow the economic downturn. Between new discovery rules and the anticipated increase in cases, Swanson he hopes to at least maintain his current staffing level.

Added Rieman: “I am still short two assistant district attorneys and a part-time secretary, which is good right now because it is saving money. However, when things are up and running, we will be very busy, if not completely inundated.”