Statewide Judicial Emergency Extended Again, Bar Exam Postponed

The Delaware Supreme Court on Thursday announced that it has extended statewide judicial emergency to mid-June and rescheduled the July Delaware bar exam for mid-September.

The announcement and order came on the day the court’s previous order extending the emergency was set to expire and a little less than a week after Gov. John Carney extended Delaware’s state of emergency until May 31. Carney also set June 1 as the start of Phase 1 of the state’s economic reopening.

The latest extension means state court facilities will remain closed to the public through June 13.

The bar exam, which was originally scheduled for July 27 to 29, has been rescheduled for Sept. 9 to 11. The order also allows for anyone who was registered to take the July bar exam but chooses not to take the exam in September to receive a refund of their application fee.

“Our state continues to operate under the governor’s emergency declarations,” Chief Justice Collins Seitz Jr. said in a press release.

“Those restrictions—vital to protecting the health and safety of Delawareans—do not presently allow us to increase activity in judicial facilities. Therefore, I have entered an order today extending the judicial emergency declaration until June 13, 2020. As I have noted before, with the exception of trials, all state courts continue to use video and audio platforms to conduct as much court business as possible. The goal is to work down each court’s non-trial casework so we are prepared for increasing court operations when health and science experts tell us it is safe and reasonable to do so.”

The order requires each courthouse to continue to provide a method, such as a dropbox or mailing address, for attorneys and members of the public to file paper documents if they do not have access to electronic filing. The order also requires courts to continue holding nonemergency and nonessential telephonic arguments and hearings or videoconferences.

According to the press release, the Court Reopening Committee, led by Superior Court Judge William C. Carpenter Jr. and staffed by state judicial officers and court employees, judicial system partners and an infectious disease expert, is working on a plan to gradually reopen court facilities. The release said the committee is aiming to have a final report and recommendation this month, with a possible “first phase” limited reopening beginning in June.

Read the Order:

Read the Press Release: