LISA A. DOLPH SUPREME COURT BUILDING Clerk 55 THE GREEN ______DOVER DE 19901
DORIS J. ADKINS Chief Deputy Clerk DEBRA J. ZATLOKOVICZ (302) 739-4155 Senior Court Clerk (302) 739-4156 RENÉ A. WORRELL Senior Court Clerk ELIZABETH A. FELICIANO Senior Court Clerk August 11, 2021
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Attached is a certified copy of the Administrative Order dated August 11, 2021, IN RE Additional COVID-19 Precautionary Measures.
/s/ Lisa A. Dolph Lisa A. Dolph Clerk of the Supreme Court
cc: Honorable Collins J. Seitz, Jr. Honorable Karen L. Valihura Honorable James T. Vaughn, Jr. Honorable Gary F. Traynor Honorable Tamika R. Montgomery-Reeves Honorable Kathaleen St. J. McCormick Honorable Jan R. Jurden Honorable Michael K. Newell Honorable Carl C. Danberg Honorable Alan G. Davis Honorable Kathleen M. Jennings Honorable Kevin J. O’Connell Gayle Lafferty, Esquire State Court Administrator Katherine Neikirk, Esquire Chief Staff Attorney Karlis Johnson, Court Administrator
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE IN RE ADDITIONAL COVID-19 § PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES §
ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER On this 11th day of August 2021:
WHEREAS, under the Delaware Constitution, Article IV, § 13, the Chief Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court is the administrative head of all the courts in the State and has general administrative and supervisory powers over all the courts;
WHEREAS, more than 600,000 Americans and 1,600 Delawareans have died of COVID-19 since March 2020;
WHEREAS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) and the Delaware Division of Public Health (“DPH”) have advised that the COVID-19 vaccines available in the United States—Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson— are safe and effective in preventing infection, serious illness, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19;
WHEREAS, on July 1, 2021, fully vaccinated individuals were no longer required to wear face masks or coverings in judicial facilities, but individuals who were not fully vaccinated or were immunocompromised were required to continue wearing face masks or coverings in judicial facilities;
WHEREAS, on July 13, 2021, Governor John C. Carney lifted the State of Emergency for the State of Delaware;
WHEREAS, on July 13, 2021, the Chief Justice lifted the judicial emergency, with certain COVID-19 precautions and social distancing requirements remaining in effect;
WHEREAS, on July 27, 2021, in light of the highly transmissible Delta variant of COVID-19, the CDC recommended that fully vaccinated people wear masks indoors in public places in areas of substantial or high transmission to prevent the spread of the Delta variant;
WHEREAS, all Delaware counties are presently areas of high transmission of COVID-19, and some or all of the counties are expected to remain in this status this fall;
WHEREAS, a significant number of adults in Delaware have not been fully vaccinated;
WHEREAS, COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have been increasing in Delaware, and medical experts advise that these conditions will continue to increase this fall;
WHEREAS, on August 10, 2021, Governor Carney announced that State employees and visitors to State facilities must wear masks indoors, regardless of vaccination status, beginning on August 16, 2021, and that additional requirements for vaccination and testing for State employees would be announced soon;
WHEREAS, thousands of people, including jurors, parties, witnesses, lawyers, judges, and court staff, are required to enter Delaware judicial facilities every day, and those who are incarcerated travel to judicial facilities and are returned to places of confinement where protection from the spread of COVID-19 is critical;
WHEREAS, the Chief Justice has determined, after consultation with the Court’s infectious disease expert, that universal masking should be re-instituted in all judicial facilities to help prevent the spread and harm of COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, the Chief Justice has determined, after consultation with the Court’s infectious disease expert, that weekly testing of unvaccinated judicial branch employees is warranted to keep employees, the public, and incarcerated individuals as safe as possible from exposure to the highly transmissible Delta variant of COVID-19 and future variants.
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that:
(1) Beginning on August 16, 2021, all persons entering any judicial facilities, regardless of their vaccination status, shall wear a face mask or covering that completely covers the nose and mouth. Visitors must wear a face mask or covering at all times except when speaking in a courtroom. Face masks will be provided for visitors who do not have one.
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(2) Judicial Officers and judicial branch employees who have a private office may remove their mask or face covering when in their office. Judicial branch employees who share workspace may remove their face mask or covering if they have enough space to maintain six feet of distance from others and are permitted by a supervisor to do so. Judicial branch employees must wear a face mask or covering whenever speaking with any visitor to judicial facilities. Judicial Officers and judicial branch employees may remove their face mask or covering when speaking in a courtroom.
(3) Beginning on September 7, 2021, all Judicial Officers and judicial branch employees who have not provided evidence of their full vaccination for COVID-19 must undergo weekly testing for COVID- 19 and each week provide evidence of a negative test result. An individual is fully vaccinated two weeks after the second dose of a two- dose vaccine or two weeks after one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Judicial Officers and judicial branch employees may discontinue weekly testing for COVID-19 when they are fully vaccinated and provide evidence of their vaccination.
(4) The Administrative Office of the Courts, working with each courts’ administrative and human resources staff, shall set up a system for the collection, processing, and maintenance of the information required by Paragraph 3.
(5) This order will shall remain in effect for 120 days, subject to review and amendment as COVID-19 conditions evolve in Delaware.
(6) The Clerk of the Court is directed to transmit forthwith a certified copy of this Order to the clerk of each trial court in each county.
BY THE CHIEF JUSTICE:
/s/ Collins J. Seitz, Jr. Chief Justice
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State of Delaware § § ss. Kent County §
I, Lisa A. Dolph, Clerk of the Supreme Court of the State of Delaware, do hereby certify that the foregoing is a true and correct copy of the
Administrative Order dated August 11, 2021, IN RE Additional COVID-19
Precautionary Measures, as remains on file and of record in said Court.
IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF,
I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the
seal of said Court at Dover this 11th day of
August, A.D. 2021.
/s/ Lisa A. Dolph Lisa A. Dolph Clerk of the Supreme Court