Tulsa County Using Convention Center As Courtroom In Order To Address Backlog Of Cases

Tulsa County judges had a busy day hearing hundreds of cases at the Cox Convention Center.

This is the second time they've been able to get through hundreds of cases in one day. They're doing this since so many cases were put on hold during the past year and the convention center offers them a much larger space than a courtroom.

“We’ve got larceny of merchandise from a retailer, possession of a controlled drug, misdemeanor DUI’s, knowingly concealing stolen properties, just a lot of theft crime and then possession crimes," said Tulsa District Judge Dawn Moody.

Judge Moody said the cases heard Friday were a combination of backlogs from last summer when the courthouse was shut down and new cases that happened during the pandemic but could be quickly taken care of today. 

“Individuals are able to take care of their case in one room, negotiate with the district attorney’s office and, hopefully, make one stop rather than multiple court appearances," said Judge Moody.

She said handling so many cases in one day means fewer people going into the courthouse.

Judge Moody said it took a lot of coordination between the district attorney's office, bondsmen, and suspects' attorneys to make this possible. 

“I think the defendants are very grateful for this because again they’re not having to take off work multiple times in order to handle their criminal matters and again we’ve got really experienced district attorneys here as well as public defenders so the negotiations are going very smoothly," said Judge Moody.

There are currently no plans for another big docket day at the Cox Convention Center.

She said anyone who missed court today should contact their attorney.