Attorneys are getter a clearer picture of how trials will resume following Independence Day in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska after an ad hoc committee’s recommendations were released Monday evening.

Working with the court’s staff and Dr. Ted Cieslak, an epidemiologist for the University of Nebraska Medical Center, the committe recommends sending each prospective juror a letter – for the July panel, the letters will be mailed on June 22 – detailing safety and distancing rules.

In general, the recommendations suggest, jurors should be deferred if they express concerns about COVID-19. Prospective jurors arriving at the federal courthouses in Omaha and Lincoln will be screened for a fever. No more than two jury trials should be scheduled in Omaha and no more than one in Lincoln at any time.

Eight-person juries will be seated for the foreseeable future. A minimum of 22 to 24 prospective jurors are to be called for civil cases and 42 to 44 prospective jurors in criminal cases.

The report says Omaha could place its pools of prospective jurors in the Special Proceedings Courtroom for civil cases. For criminal cases, the pool would be split between the Special Proceedings Courtroom and the Court of Appeals Courtroom.

During trials, masks will be optional when socially distanced and seated for jurors. Some jurors will be seated in the gallery. Sequestration is not recommended in the pandemic.

The public will be able to view the proceedings via a livestream from a separarate area in the courthouse.

“Someday we will return to business as usual, but not for the next several months, U.S Chief Judge John M. Gerrard wrote in an email Monday distributed to news outlets. “During that time period, all of the judges and Committee members ask for a spirit of cooperation and request helpful suggestions as trials progress.”