THURSDAY November 5, 2020
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Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
THE COURTS ISSUE
JEA board selects new CEO
Daily Record JUSTICE JACKSONVILLE
SOCIALLY DISTANCED
Jay Stowe worked for the TVA, Huntsville Utilities. BY MIKE MENDENHALL
Daily Record Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
JACKSONVILLE
THE JURY ROOM Fourth Circuit Chief Judge Mark Mahon in the jury assembly room at the Duval County Courthouse. Before COVID-19, as many as 400 summoned prospective jurors joined in the room most Monday mornings. Now, it’s set up for for social distancing and accommodates about 100 people.
Photo by Max Marbut
How the courts are coping with the pandemic. BY MAX MARBUT ASSOCIATE EDITOR
M
uch has changed at the Duval County Courthouse since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The building was closed to the public for more than three months beginning March 16. The courthouse is historically Jacksonville’s busiest public building. Nearly 1 million people
walked freely through front doors in 2019. They went through one of several security screening stations and proceeded into the building to conduct their business with the courts or the Duval County Clerk of Courts. Now, people are met on the steps and asked why they want to enter the building and only those with specific business are allowed to pass. They then have their temperature checked to ensure they don’t have a fever and answer ques-
MORE INSIDE ■ Photos of COVID-19
safety measures inside the Duval County Courthouse. Page 9 ■ Report on two civil
jury trials done remotely. Page 10 ■ A directory of
Northeast Florida judges. Page 11
SEE COURTS, PAGE 8
STAFF WRITER
Changes are coming to the leadership at JEA. The board of the city-owned utility voted 6-1 on Nov. 2 to negotiate with industry executive Jay Stowe, 52, to become its next CEO and managing director. The board unanimously voted to allow JEA Chair John Baker II and Chief Legal Counsel Jody Brooks to negotiate the contract capped at $575,000 per year. S towe is founder and Stowe CEO of Stowe Utility Group LLC in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He is the former senior vice president of resources and operations support for the Tennessee Valley Authority, where he worked from October 2016 to October 2019. Stowe also worked for nearly 11 years at Huntsville Utilities, the city-owned energy, water and natural gas organization in Alabama. Former JEA CEO Aaron Zahn and senior executives were fired after an attempt last year to sell the public utility to a private company. Voters also changed how JEA’s board is chosen Nov. 3 by approving a ballot referendum allowing City Council to split six of JEA’s seven board appointments with Jacksonville’s mayor, who previously appointed all members. The Council’s fourth appointment will come through an open application process.
MMENDENHALL@ JAXDAILYRECORD.COM @MIMENDENHALL (904) 356-2466
THE BAR BULLETIN
Lawyers as peacemakers and builders of unity JBA president: Politics, law are linked. PAGE 15 VOLUME 107, NO. 249 • TWO SECTIONS