CDC-coronavirus
Revision: Governor Ned Lamont Executive issued Executive Order 7Q which "effective immediately and through June 23, 2020, unless modified, extended or terminated by me, Section 3 of my prior Executive Order 7K concerning remote notarizations is hereby superseded and replaced in its entirety by this Executive Order {7Q}."
We write to update you on some key developments relevant to the COVID-19 pandemic and the work of the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic Task Force (the “Task Force”).
As you are aware, our Governor Ned Lamont recently signed Executive Order No. 7K, which among other things, allows for remote notarization of documents. While our Task Force subcommittees were not involved in the drafting of that Executive Order, if you have questions or concerns about the Executive Order, direct your concerns to your section leadership, who will then report them to the Task Force. If you are not in a section, please direct your concerns to COVID19@ctbar.org. We will communicate your issues and concerns to the Executive Branch. Please do not contact the Governor’s office directly.
Additionally, Monte Frank represented the CBA at a telephonic emergency meeting of the Rules Committee of the Superior Court on Tuesday, March 24 at 10:00 am. As co-chair of the Task Force, he monitored the meeting for the purpose of reporting back developments to the Task Force. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss suspending a number of rules as presented by the civil, criminal, family and juvenile administrative judges. The Rules Committee voted unanimously to support the suspension of the proposed rules in Appendix A and B.
There may be a need for an additional emergency meeting as more issues come forward to the administrative judges. The State of Connecticut Judicial Branch will post the meeting notice and meeting minutes on its website, and will provide additional information in press releases.
As we noted previously, the Judicial and Executive Legislation subcommittees of the Task Force are working on this issue. As soon as they have more information, they will report back and will be asking for input as to what can be achieved in the short term in light of the state and national emergency presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. Please continue to direct your communications to us and not to the Judicial Branch. We will be putting forth specific recommendations for moving forward once the immediate safety issues are addressed.