CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. – The Montgomery County Clerk’s Office recently partnered with New River Valley Community Services to offer post-trial help for jurors.
According to the Conference of State Court Administrators, an estimated 11,000,000 people report for jury duty every year.
For some of the cases, jury members must view, and evaluate, material that many are not prepared for, like in 2016 after the murder of Nicole Lovell or in 2018 when a Blacksburg man was killed after luring a Virginia Tech football player into his home.
“You never know what you are going to see, or hear, whenever you go up to court,” said Tiffany Couch, Montgomery County clerk.
With Montgomery County’s new partnership with New River Valley Community Services, jurors can get the help they may need post-trial.
“Having this resource for them to have somewhere to go to if, for some reason we do have another case that may require them to need that type of service, is really great to have,” Couch said.
To learn more about this program, I met up with some folks from the county clerk’s office and New River Valley Community Services.
They said the program is simple for jurors to use.
After a trial, they are given the contact information to NRVCS, and then they can schedule a free consultation.
“They will be provided with a one-time consultation,” said Erin Brosius, clinical program director for New River Valley Community Services. “We’ll provide them with resources and if they need ongoing counseling, we will help connect them with that.”
They said if it is determined the individual needs additional help, they can then be referred to a therapist at NRVCS or a private therapist.
They said the program has started immediately, and they have already given information out to current jurors.