Why is the Jarl of Markarth always in his room?

In Skyrim SSE (on PC), when I'm running any quest for the Jarl of Markarth ("Kill the Forsworn Leader","Dungeon Delving","Thane of the Reach") and prompted to return to him to complete the quest, he's in his room with the door locked. I don't want to pick the lock and get fined and perhaps get a bad reputation. I've waited in sight of the throne one hour at a time for several in-game days. No court at the throne. All the other courts follow the same merchant hours of 8 AM to 8 PM. Is this an in-game bug? It really breaks the flow, having to wait hour-after-hour or do some other quest and return, hoping that the Markarth court will actually be in session.

Is the resolution some console hack? I can't think of any way I could have accidentally messed up the Markarth court mechanics.

Even having a resolution, I'm just curious why it is that this only happens in Markarth. Is it the "special" meat served in Markarth?

If using the PC version of the game you could use the 'no-clip' console command tcl (ToggleColLision - thanks Joachim) as a workaround.

This will let you fly through the wall without needing to pick the lock. (You can also use this to fly around a map/dungeon.)

I would recommend toggling it on and off either side of the wall so you reduce the chance of getting stuck in geometry (and saving beforehand, just in case).

I learned quite by accident that if I max out my stealth 100 (and max out stealth perks), have at least lockpicking of 40, and wear a well-enchanted sneaking ring I can pick the lock without being flagged with a crime. The Jarl and the steward don't seem to care so long as I picked the lock while in super-stealth mode. I made sure to do this between 8AM and 8PM, so I don't know whether that had some subtle impact.

In any case, this method only worked for me when in super-stealth mode. Being only slightly stealthy (i.e., no maxed stealth perks, stealth ring, and lockpicking perks) resulted in being accused of a crime by guards. Somehow the dogs count as witnesses, even if no guards are anywhere in sight.

(In a related note, I've also observed that chickens, sheep, cows, and horses also serve as witnesses, so you'll have to do a meat-slaughter if you want to make sure you have no fines as a result of any crimes.)