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Several western North Carolina counties are in various stages of restoring court operations in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, and the state’s Supreme Court is extending deadlines lawyers face for filings and actions.
The North Carolina Judicial Branch’s website page that tracks the status of seven affected county courthouses showed Friday morning that one is back to normal, others face delays and one has a long journey to recovery. The site did not list complete information for all of the counties.
Ashe County was likely faring the best. As of 8 a.m. Friday, its courthouse was open, the website says, and civil and criminal District Courts and civil Superior Court sessions were operating. The criminal session of Superior Court was canceled.
Avery County sessions of civil and criminal District Court have been canceled for this week.
Madison County, whose courthouse was flooded by the French Broad River, will not hold court this week, Magistrate Timothy Cantrell said in a telephone interview. Tentative plans call for court to be held starting Nov. 4 at the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service office at 248 Carolina Lane, Marshall. and for some matters such as first appearance hearings to be held at the sheriff’s office in the interim.
For information about emergency hearings in Madison County, the website directs attorneys to call Evan Redmond at 828-434-0721.
Up-to-date information for McDowell County was not available.
Mitchell County’s...
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