La Crosse County court will no longer stream hearings online for public

Courtroom business in La Crosse County is generally back to normal, after two years of COVID-19 shutdowns and precautions.

“The courthouse at this point is getting back to as much normalcy as we can get back to,” La Crosse County clerk of courts Kelly Goyette said, “with a few things that are still gonna be held over from that COVID process.”

The county’s courts generally reopened to the public last week, after roughly two years of hearings conducted online.

Goyette said the online links are only used now if crime suspects are in the jail, or otherwise not in the courthouse. Most court proceedings in La Crosse will no longer be streamed online for the public.

Goyette said you might still need to wear a mask for some courtroom business.

“There are a couple of courtrooms that have notations outside of the courtrooms on whether or not masks are required to enter the courtroom,” Goyette said, “so we just ask that people, if they’re coming to see a hearing, that they pay attention to those notices outside the courtrooms before they enter.”

Goyette added that masks will still be requested for people called to jury duty. Otherwise, the online links will normally be used in La Crosse courtrooms only to have prisoners appear remotely from the jail.