Jury Trials Resume After Flooding At Tulsa Courthouse

After more than a month, jury trials at the Tulsa County courthouse resumed Monday, after a pipe burst flooded the courthouse basement last month.

The flood caused more than $100,000 in damage and a backlog of cases; but one month later, the courts are finally back to business as usual.

The Tulsa County Courthouse was busy after more than a month as jurors were back to work.

During that month, restoration crews made repairs in the basement while trials were at a standstill.

Assistant District Attorney, Doug Drummond said, "You have a jail that is pretty crowded and you want to get every defendant their day in court, if they want a trial we want to provide one, so any time you have a month absence from trials that does create a backlog."

10/6/2014 Related Story: Jury Trials Resume In Tulsa County After Water Damage Repaired

A backlog caused by rain that filled a courthouse drainage pipe and burst. The flooding cost $100,000 but the damage isn't just monetary.

"We can't afford this much time down so I am hoping that the judges, as the year goes through, they're going to be in court, they're going to be trying cases so we can try to start working our way back toward this,” said Drummond.

He said the flood has a domino effect. Several county offices had to be relocated and the district attorney's office said least 15 trials were postponed.

"So when you don't have trials there is not really an incentive for the defendants to plead, or anybody to plead. They just kind of stay on the docket and they move along, so those trial weeks are very important. They are important to the system and try to make it efficient as we go through,” Drummond said.

There was about four inches of standing water, so crews did test the basement for mold.

Now the main concern is catching up on the backlog of cases.