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.
Due to unprecedented staffing challenges, the Justice of the Peace Court will be limiting operations at Justice of the Peace Court 9 (JP Court 9) at 757 North Broad Street in the Middletown Square Center beginning on Nov. 7, 2022 and lasting at least through the early part of 2023.
November 2, 2022—The Delaware Judiciary was saddened to learn of the passing of Justice of the Peace Court Administrator Mark E. Hitch over the weekend. Hitch had been battling cancer and in recent weeks, his colleagues at the court showed their support for his fight, and his sense of humor, by wearing gray “Fight like a Hitch” wristbands.
Changes For JP Court 9 (Debt And Trespass Filings)
Effective JANUARY 1, 2022 — Justice of the Peace Court 9 located in Middletown
Delaware will no longer be accepting Debt and Trespass filings of any kind in person or
electronically.
Moving forward any NEW debt or trespass filings will need to be filed with Justice of the Peace Court 13
located in New Castle Delaware. Any debt or trespass cases that have already been filed prior to 2022 at
Court 9 will be completed at Court 9 and all additional filings on those cases can still be filed in
person or electronically for Justice of the Peace Court 9.
New Form 50 Documents and Procedures
Effective December 15, 2021 — The Justice of the Peace Court is committed to safeguarding the
payment data of filers and other parties. Accordingly, the Court will no longer accept Form 50
applications and payments via e-mail. This change in policy is necessary to comply with the Payment Card
Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), which was created to protect cardholder data and reduce
credit card fraud. For more information on these changes go to the JP Court
Form 50 page. In addition, the Justice of the Peace has updated the ‘Certificate of
Representation for an Artificial Entity or Public Body’ (CF50); the application is now separate from the instructions (CF50I); and the notarial requirement has
been reinstated on the Form 50. Visit the eFlex Training page
and refer to Modules 2, 4, and 4a for more details.
Updated Debit Account Replenishment Authorization Form (MISC31)
Effective November 30, 2021 —
Attention, Court Debit Account holders: The Justice of the Peace Court has revised its Debit Account
Replenishment Authorization Form (MISC31), which is available on the Court’s website under Forms.
The Court has established a CENTRAL FAX NUMBER to receive these forms. Faxes will no longer be
accepted at individual Justice of the Peace Court locations. However, forms may still be
submitted in person or by mail to those locations.
Effective November 5, 2021 —
The Justice of the Peace Court has updated our JP Civil Fees list. These updates include items that were
missing from our original list and a few changes in the cost of some items. Go to JP Civil Fee list for updates
August 31, 2021 —
This fall, two Justice of the Peace Court locations in New Castle County will close their current
locations, combine, and move to the Leonard L. Williams Justice Center in Wilmington. Justice of the
Peace Court 20 will close on Sept. 7 and relocate to the Leonard L. Williams Justice Center; Court 10
will close and relocate to the Justice Center on Oct. 10.
August 2, 2021 —
Mark E. Hitch appointed as Justice of the Peace Court Administrator.
Standing Order No. 7 Concerning Lifting Of COVID-19 Judicial Emergency
July 15, 2021—
Justice of the Peace Court issues new standing order
concerning lifting of COVID-19 Judicial Emergency.
Standing Order No. 6 Concerning COVID-19 Precautionary Measures
December 14, 2020—
Justice of the Peace Court issues new
standing order
to help limit the spread of COVID-19 virus and serve in a continuous capacity during times of
emergency in order to ensure that emergency and essential functions of the judicial system may continue.
Justice of the Peace Court Form 50 Procedures update
Effective Monday, November 30, 2020 the Justice of the Peace Court will implement new procedures and a
new option for filing a Certificate of Representation For An Artificial Entity or Public Body, more
commonly known as the Form 50. The notarial requirement has been replaced with an affirmation under
penalty of perjury and/or termination of representation privileges. To see complete details of all
changes go to FORM 50 information page.
Justice of the Peace Court Increase Civil Jurisdiction to $25,000
Effective November 23, 2020 —
The Governor signed House Bill 232 (AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 10 AND TITLE 25 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING
TO JURISDICTION OF THE JUSTICE OF THE PEACE COURT AND SUMMARY POSSESSION). This Act both raises the
jurisdictional limit of the Justice of the Peace Court to $25,000 and allows the Justice of the Peace to
consider claims in excess of the jurisdictional limit where the underlying matter involves a commercial
tenancy and possession of the rental unit is at issue.
November 10, 2020 —
New secure online portal allows for quick, equitable resolution of disputes without ever going into a
courthouse – saving litigants and the court both time, money. For additional information about this
program, please visit the Justice of the Peace Court's ODR web page.
Effective July 13, 2020 —
The Justice of the Peace Court has updated their Affidavit in Support of Compliance with the Cares Act
Form CF71 by adding an option to select regarding a rules violation. You can find this form on our website under forms.
Please discontinue use of this form dated prior to 7/13/20.
July 7, 2020 —
All Justice of the Peace Court locations across the state are open and are hearing cases. The Court
reminds the public if you receive a notice to appear in Court you must do so unless you
notify the Court in advance and make other arrangements.
July 1, 2020 —
Governor John Carney, Attorney General Kathy Jennings, Delaware State Housing Authority (DSHA) Director
Anas Ben Addi and Justice of the Peace Court Chief Magistrate Alan Davis announced a joint effort on
foreclosure and eviction prevention to support Delaware homeowners and renters financially impacted by
the COVID-19 shutdown.
Effective May 22, 2020 —
The Justice of the Peace Court has updated their Complaint Form CF01. You can find this form on our website under forms. Please replace any older versions of this document.
E-Filing at the Justice of the Peace Court
Effective July 8, 2019 – The Justice of the Peace Court has updated its Policy Directive regarding
e-filing. Please review Policy Directive 08-232
(1st) for changes in Training, Fees and Time of eFiling.
The Court has updated the list of reasons that a filing maybe rejected by the court. Review the rejected reason list prior to submitting your filing to avoid delays in the
acceptance of your filing.
