Justice of the Peace Court to restrict operations at JP Court 9 in Middletown
Starting Nov. 7, 2022 due to staffing shortages
Court operations at that location will be limited to two days a week
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.
JP Court 9 – which handles both civil and criminal matters – will be closed to the public on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays and operate normally on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Partner agencies were notified earlier this month about the change so they could plan
accordingly.
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, there will be a drop box available at
JP Court 9 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 normally handled by JP Court 9 during
modified operations.
All Delaware Courts are experiencing staffing challenges of some kind but the Justice of the
Peace Court has felt the staffing issues more acutely due to the large number of locations that the
Justice of the Peace Court operates, which require a larger number of staff and security..
Most of the state’s other courts largely operate in a single, central location in each county while
Justice of the Peace Courts have 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 is the state’s busiest court in terms of caseload, routinely
handling on average 250,000 matters every year over the past five years.
Source: Delaware Courts