Effective March 3, 2024, Justice of the Peace Court 3 in Georgetown, Delaware, will be reducing its hours as part of a pilot program. The court will be open from 6:00 a.m. – midnight daily and will be staffed with judicial officers from 8:00 a.m. – midnight. The court will not accept new cases after 11:00 p.m. and all in-person and virtual activity after 11:00 p.m. should be directed to Justice of the Peace Court 7, 480 Bank Lane, Dover, Delaware.
This month the Justice of the Peace Court’s eight-year-old call center – set up to improve access for the public and increase efficiency for court staff – received its one millionth call, a significant milestone and proof that the center is fulfilling its mission. The Mark E. Hitch Information Center was created in 2015 to improve access for the public and allow staff at courthouses to focus on in-person clients.
Charlotte, who has been with the Justice of the Peace Court for more than 34 years, started as a clerk in 1989, worked her way up through the ranks to Judicial Case Processor – where she oversaw the clerical staff – and then to Management Analyst III. Charlotte’s contributions may not be visible to the general public, but her work is well known to both court management and her peers and is critical to the court’s everyday operations.
Effective 8/1/23 - JP Criminal Form 51 is used to request the transfer of a Voluntary Assessment ticket, or mail-in fine, to a court location for a hearing. Once the Voluntary Assessment Center receives the JP Criminal Form 51 request, they will transfer the case to the appropriate location for the hearing as indicated on the request form. Once the case is transferred, the fine amount due is put on hold pending the final disposition of the case and cannot be paid to avoid attending the newly scheduled court date. The requestor of the transfer will receive a notice to appear at the appropriate court of jurisdiction on a scheduled date and time. Any further communication regarding the transferred case should be sent to that court location.
Effective 11/28/23 – The Justice of the Peace Court has updated their Certificate of Representation for an Artificial Entity or Public Body (Form 50) document. The court removed the principle office address and added an optional field requesting the number of units owned or managed by the entity. Please use this new form in place of any old copies of the form 50 you may be using.
Effective October 16, 2023 - The Justice of the Peace Court has updated their Standard E-Filing Rejection Reasons List with the following item “WHEN USING A FILLABLE FORM, FILL THE FORM AND SAVE A COPY TO YOUR PC SO YOU CAN EDIT IT LATER IF NEEDED. THEN SELECT PRINT AND SELECT "ADOBE PDF" AS THE PRINTER. THIS WILL SAVE A NON-EDITABLE PDF VERSION OF THE DOCUMENT TO YOUR PC AND IS THE VERSION YOU SHOULD ATTACH TO YOUR FILING.” This update is to protect your filing documents from being updated by the court and/or other parties.
The Delaware Judiciary will be hosting its second “Safe Surrender” event of 2023 on Friday Nov. 3, 2023 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Kent County Courthouse in Dover to give individuals who have outstanding warrants or capiases a chance to clear their records in a one-stop, day-long event with help from the entire justice system.
On Monday June 12, 2023 Justice of the Peace Court 2 will close operations in its current location in Rehoboth Beach and reopen five miles north in Lewes on June 14, 2023 at 16283 Willow Creek Road.
The Delaware Judiciary will be hosting a “safe surrender” event from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday May 12, 2023 at the Leonard L. Williams Justice Center in Wilmington to give individuals who have outstanding warrants or capiases a chance to clear their records in a one-stop, day-long event with help from the entire justice system.
Effective February 20, 2023 - The Justice of the Peace Court has updated their JP Civil Form No. 49 Application and Affidavit to Proceed In Forma Pauperis and Order to make it more user-friendly for self-represented litigants.
Effective February 17, 2023 - The Justice of the Peace Court has updated their Subpoena in a Civil Case CF58. Subpoena now includes wording to include ZOOM hearings and ZOOM link information.
Effective February 16, 2023 - The Justice of the Peace Court has updated their Service for Non-Residents Instructions document CF31. See last page, item (C) “If Form 31A (Affidavit of Service) is not returned to the Court within 365 days (1 year), the case may be dismissed by the Court.
Effective February 15, 2023 - The Justice of the Peace Court has updated their Certificate Representation Artificial Entity (Form 50) Instruction document CF50I. The instructions now include a reminder on the last page that all Form 50 agents MUST submit an approved Form 50 with all filings to the Court and to bring a copy of the approved Form 50 to every court appearance.
