It’s often said that the wheels of justice can move slowly, but yesterday during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court, those wheels almost ground to a halt under a heavy load of cases.
The court faced a standing room only crowd and a jammed docket. At about 4 p.m., Circuit Judge Gordon Webb halted the regular call of the docket telling a large number of people waiting for their time in front of the bench that with almost 170 cases to handle, it would be physically impossible to plow through the list in the normal fashion without remaining in session until late night.
Judge Webb said a combination of factors had come together creating a “perfect storm” resulting in a docket bursting at the seams.
He said he was hopeful that a situation such as the court faced Thursday would not be a regular occurance.
As one way of trying to get through Thursday before it became Friday, it was decided to alter the normal appearance routine for a large number of cases which served to shorten the court’s day and also allowed a number of apparently very grateful people to take their leave of the courtroom.
Even with that action, the judge was not able to declare the court adjourned until after 8:30 p.m.
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