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DELAWARE COURTS MOVE TO A MODIFIED PHASE 3 OF REOPENING PLAN; 

CHIEF JUSTICE EXTENDS JUDICIAL EMERGENCY TO NOVEMBER 4TH

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE

Public Notice

PHASE 2 OPERATIONS IN EFFECT BEGINNING SEPTEMBER 15, 2020

Pursuant to the Standing Order RE: Criminal and Civil Jury Selections; Jury Trials; and

Transition to Phase 2, dated September 1, 2020, the United States District and Bankruptcy Courts for the District of Delaware will begin to operate under Phase 2 of the Districts Re-Opening Guidelines effective Tuesday, September 15, 2020.

This transition has no direct impact on any particular proceeding in either the District or Bankruptcy Court. Instead, case-specific decisions will be made by the presiding Judge. The Court will continue to monitor conditions in Delaware and the surrounding region and consider the recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other federal, state and local public health authorities.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 14, 2020

Delaware Courts resume issuing “failure to appear” bench warrants.

Courts stopped issuing certain warrants at start of the pandemic.

As part of the Delaware Judiciary’s ongoing reopening efforts, the Delaware Courts will today resume issuing bench warrants for individuals who fail to appear for certain proceedings. The courts had stopped issuing these types of warrants at the beginning of the pandemic, when court facilities were closed to the public for several weeks as a safety precaution. Court facilities reopened to the public on June 15 and the Delaware Courts are now in Phase 2 of a four-phased reopening plan and are working on moving to Phase 3, and the return of jury trials, in October. Today’s announcement means if a person is scheduled to appear in one of Delaware’s Courts for a criminal or traffic matter, or any matter scheduled in Family Court, that individual must appear as instructed on their court notice or by court staff (either remotely or in person), or they face the possibility of arrest. If you received a notice from a Delaware Court, please review it carefully and follow the instructions provided. Many court matters are now being held virtually and, in those cases, individuals are expected to appear via phone or computer connection/video instead of in person. If an individual fails to appear as scheduled – and this includes a failure to appear for a virtual event – and does not contact the court, a capias (bench warrant) may be issued for that individual’s arrest. If you have any questions about appearing in court, please contact the court location where your case is scheduled.

Review Order here

DELAWARE JUDICIARY UNVEILS PLAN TO RESUME JURY TRIALS IN OCTOBER; EXTENDS EMERGENCY TO OCTOBER 5TH, 2020

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A REMINDER THAT ALL DELAWARE STATE & FEDERAL COURTS WILL BE CLOSED ON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7TH IN OBSERVANCE OF LABOR DAY.*

*JUSTICE OF THE PEACE COURTS #11, #7, & #3 WILL REMAIN OPEN.  

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE IN RE: COURT OPERATIONS UNDER : THE EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES : CREATED BY COVID-19 : : STANDING ORDER RE: CRIMINAL AND CIVIL JURY SELECTIONS; JURY TRIALS; AND TRANSITION TO PHASE 2

AND NOW, this 1st day of September, 2020, pursuant to the Revised Standing Order dated May 27, 2020, and in order to further public health and safety, the health and safety of Court personnel, counsel, litigants, other case participants, jurors, security personnel and the general public and in order to reduce the number of gatherings necessarily attendant to trial jury selection in this Court, and in order to minimize travel by participants in Court proceedings, particularly travel by public conveyance, it is hereby ORDERED as follows:

1. Effective this date, all civil and criminal jury selections and jury trials in the District of Delaware scheduled to begin before September 15, 2020, are continued pending further Order of the Court. The Court may issue Orders concerning future general continuances of any matters as may be deemed necessary and appropriate. All jury selections and trials affected by this Order will be reset by further Order of the assigned judicial officer.

2. The Court will continue to operate under Phase 1 of the District’s ReOpening Guidelines through September 14, 2020.

3. Subject to the conditions set out in paragraph 4 below, the District will begin to operate under Phase 2 of the Re-Opening Guidelines on September 15, 2020. Phase 2 permits the Court to conduct jury trials, at the discretion of the presiding judge in each individual case, subject to constraints imposed by limited resources and building space.

4. The Court will continue to monitor conditions with respect to coronavirus in Delaware and the surrounding region. The Court will consider guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other federal, state, and local public health authorities. Provided that the trends remain at or around where they are as of the date of this Order – for example, a downward trend of COVID-19 case counts in Delaware over a sustained period (i.e., the most recent 30-day period and several months before), a positivity rate of around 5% or fewer of those tested, and/or no substantial expansion of new hospitalizations – the Court will enter Phase 2, as provided in paragraph 3. 5. At least in the initial stages of Phase 2, it is anticipated that the Court will conduct no more than one jury trial at a time and will give priority to criminal trials.

FOR THE COURT: /s/ Leonard P. Stark Chief District Judge

ORDER

AMENDED ORDER: EMERGENCY CLERK'S OFFICE PROCEDURES

NOTICE TO THE BAR AND PUBLIC CONCERNING REQUIREMENT OF MANDATORY LOCAL FORMS RE: ENACTMENT OF THE SMALL BUSINESS REORGANIZATION ACT OF 2019