JUSTICE OF THE PEACE COURT JUSTICE OF THE PEACE COURT Chief Magistrate Alan G. Davis The past fiscal year was one of new be- have a significant impact on the ability of ginnings for the Justice of the Peace this Court to perform its critical func- Court. On July 12, 2005, I was sworn in tions. Below find a sample of those items as the fourth chief magistrate of the we have been working on to improve the modern Justice of the Peace Court. In Justice of the Peace Court and celebrate the year following that date, the Court its mission: has continued to provide efficient, acces- sible and affordable service to the people Justice of the Peace Court’s 40th of Delaware, while undergoing a signifi- Anniversary cant transition to a new administration. The judges and staff of this Court are to While the justice of the peace is a figure be commended for their unwavering de- of note in the annals of Delaware history sire and outstanding ability to process dating to colonial days, the modern uni- the vast number of cases it handles each fied Court is a relatively new item. In year and do so not only with an eye to- 1966 the legislature passed legislation ward efficiency, but also a firm handle proposed by Governor Charles Terry that on justice. While so much has changed significantly changed the Justice of the in the past year, it is comforting to know Peace system by bringing it within the that such dedication has remained un- auspices of the Delaware Judiciary. As a shakable. state court, the Justice of the Peace Court has been professionalized through During this transition period, the Court the training of judges and staff, the im- has undertaken a number of exciting and provement of court facilities, and the es- important initiatives. Some have been tablishment of a centralized and uniform completed in the past fiscal year and administration. Today the Delaware Jus- some are in various stages, but all will tice of the Peace Court is, in many ways, ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2006 Annual Report of the Delaware Judiciary 59 JUSTICE OF THE PEACE COURT a model of limited jurisdiction courts. This gram now has an additional staff person year we have celebrated this milestone in dedicated to assist the coordinator in ad- the history of the Court in a variety of ministering this highly successful program. ways, at times involving those who were In addition to the staffing change, com- integral in the remaking of this organiza- puter programming improvements devel- tion. oped by DELJIS and internal policy modifi- cations regarding drug testing will ensure COTS Implementation Preparations a stronger, smoother-running program as we go forward. Three Justice of the Peace Court civil loca- tions will serve as the pilot locations for Voluntary Assessment Center Lockbox Pro- the first implementation of the new case ject management system that will eventually provide branch-wide uniformity and an en- In conjunction with the Delaware Treas- hanced ability for the various courts of this urer’s Office, the Justice of the Peace state to interact more efficiently. In antici- Court embarked on a program to speed pation of the November 1, 2006 “go-live” the deposit of funds generated by pay- date for those pilot court locations, thou- ment of traffic tickets to the Voluntary As- sands upon thousands of hours of plan- sessment Center. By partnering with Wa- ning, program development, operations chovia Bank, we have made the payment reviews and preparation for change have collection and deposit processes more effi- taken place. In the Justice of the Peace cient and have provided some limited re- Court, nearly every civil court manager lief to the Voluntary Assessment Center, and the vast majority of administrative allowing the VAC staff to focus on other staff have been involved in the planning aspects of the voluntary mail-in payment and the ultimate “kick-off” of the first processing. The Court has undertaken a phase of the civil COTS case management one-year review of the project to ensure program. that evident improvements to the process are institutionalized and that modifications Truancy Court Support are undertaken where necessary. Our statewide Truancy Court celebrated its Modernization of JP Court Code Provisions tenth year of cooperative effort with schools and social service agencies to re- Thanks to the actions of the 143rd General duce truancy. Aside from the Truancy Assembly, the Justice of the Peace Court’s Court coordinator, during that ten-year authorizing operational legislation received period, this program has never had staff a substantial facelift, through the elimina- dedicated specifically to the Truancy Court tion of antiquated code provisions, includ- mission. All work has been accomplished ing those mandating manual record- through judges volunteering and court keeping techniques and allowing for a jus- staff fitting truancy among other caseload tice of the peace to fine a person for pro- duties. With a reassignment of a position fane swearing and drunkenness. In addi- within the Court, the Truancy Court Pro- tion, Chapter 59 of Title 11 of the Dela- ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2006 Annual Report of the Delaware Judiciary 60 JUSTICE OF THE PEACE COURT ware Code was modernized to allow for suc- Court in the state court system, depicted cessful implementation of the new COTS an entity with little resemblance to the case management system. Many of the old modern incarnation of the Court. provisions, which found their origin before the adoption of the Justice of the Peace 10 YEAR CASEL OAD T REND JUST ICE OF T HE PEACE COURT CIVIL & CRIMINAL/TRAFFIC FILINGS* AND DISPOSITIONS BY FISCAL YEAR 50 0,0 00 450,000 400,000 350,000 300,000 250,000 200,000 150 , 0 0 0 10 0 , 0 0 0 50,0 00 - 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Filings 309,178 313,640 371,450 406,624 408,547 392,587 380,980 421,156 426,929 459,384 Dispositions 305,133 310,428 368,080 411,504 391,468 362,122 364,508 427,798 440,959 440,848 *Criminal filings are based on charges because data by defendants is not available for all years. Legal Authorization stitution of 1792, the justices of the peace The Justice of the Peace Court is authorized by were stripped of their general administrative the Constitution of Delaware, Article IV, Section duties, leaving them with minor civil and 1. criminal jurisdiction. During the period 1792 through 1964, the justices of the peace were Court History compensated entirely by the costs and fees As early as the 1600’s, justices of the peace assessed and collected for the performance were commissioned to handle minor civil and of their legal duties. In 1966 the individual criminal cases. Along with a host of other du- justices of the peace were absorbed into the ties, the administering of local government in state judicial system, and the first chief mag- the 17th and 18th centuries on behalf of the Eng- istrate was installed in 1980 as the adminis- lish Crown was a primary duty of the justices of trative head of the Court. the peace. With the adoption of the State Con- ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2006 Annual Report of the Delaware Judiciary 61 JUSTICE OF THE PEACE COURT NUMBER OF JUSTICE OF THE PEACE COURT FILINGS* BY TYPE FY 2006 Title 7 (Fish & Game) Civil Complaints 2,170 16,880 Landlord - Tenant Title 11 (Criminal) 16,672 29,756 Voluntary Misc. Criminal Assessment Center 11,322 138,992 Title 21 Traffic 76,213 *Criminal filings are by defendant. Legal Jurisdiction Pleas, except that the Justice of the Peace The Justice of the Peace Court has jurisdiction Court has sole jurisdiction over summary pos- over civil cases in which the amount in contro- session actions. The Justice of the Peace versy is not greater than $15,000 and over Court also shares jurisdiction over replevin ac- summary possession (landlord-tenant) actions. tions with the Superior Court, rather than the Justices of the peace are authorized to hear Court of Common Pleas. certain misdemeanors and most motor vehicle cases (excluding felonies) and may act as Geographic Organization committing magistrates for all crimes. Appeals The jurisdiction of the Court is statewide and (other than in summary possession cases, sessions are held throughout the State. Of which are appeals to a three judge panel in the 18 courts currently operating, seven are in the Justice of the Peace Court) may be taken New Castle County, four are in Kent County, to the Court of Common Pleas. The subject and seven are in Sussex County. The Volun- matter jurisdiction of the Justice of the Peace tary Assessment Center, which handles mail-in Court is shared with the Court of Common fines, is located in Dover. CAPIASES CLEARED BY JUSTICE OF THE PEACE COURT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2006 Superior Court 3,490 Family Court 3,912 Court of Common Pleas 13 , 6 0 7 ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2006 Annual Report of the Delaware Judiciary 62 JUSTICE OF THE PEACE COURT JUSTICE OF THE PEACE COURT FY06 Total Cases Filed by Court (Criminal & Traffic Charges) 160,000 140,000 120,000 100,000 80,000 60,000 40,000 20,000 - 8141 9 6154102023 7 11VAC Court 4,307 4,469 4,727 5,875 8,088 12,246 15,117 20,956 32,627 38,609 35,933 39,803 55,980 147,095 Support Personnel number of justices of the peace permitted in A court administrator, two operations man- each county is 29 in New Castle County, 12 in agers, an administrative officer, and a fiscal Kent County and 19 in Sussex County.