The Justice of the Peace Court will be limiting operations at Justice of the Peace Court 9 (JP Court 9) at 757 North Broad St. for a period that will last at least through early 2023.
JP Court 9 – which handles civil and criminal matters – will be closed to the public on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays and operate normally on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The court in Middletown, which has a population approaching 25,000 has seen a growing caseload
Limiting operations of JP Court 9 will allow the court to fully staff other locations around the state. While the building will not be open three days a week, a drop box will be available to drop off civil filings, which will be processed daily.
Nearby Justice of the Peace Court 11 in New Castle and Justice of the Peace Court 7 in Dover will handle any criminal matters normally handled by JP Court 9. Justice of the Peace Court 13 in New Castle will handle any urgent civil matters.
Acccording to a release, Delaware Courts are experiencing staffing challenges. However, Justice of the Peace Court has felt the staffing issues more acutely due to the large number of locations and the need for a larger staff and security personnel.
Justice of the Peace courts operate in 13 different locations.
The Justice of the Peace Court handles civil cases that involve less than $25,000, many landlord/tenant matters, traffic cases and similar violations, and some criminal misdemeanor cases. The Justice of the Peace Court handled an average 250,000 matters every year over the past five years.
