GEORGETOWN, Del. - Since 2005 people have been barred from bringing cell phones into Delaware court buildings unless they had received special permission but starting Tuesday that rule has changed for some local court buildings including the family court building at the Georgetown Circle.
"We recognized that a lack to ones cell phones poses real challenges to those entering our buildings especially for those that are representing themselves in proceedings or those who depend on their phones for work and family matters," said Addie Asay, the Director of Legal Affairs of Family Court.
People entering some Delaware court buildings may have noticed a slight change, that now when you go in, you may be able to use your phone.
"They'll be able to utilize their cell phones to make calls to access legal resources, they'll even be able to take photos of non-confidential documents inside court files which will save self represented litigants the copying costs," added Asay.
The pilot program was brought on by a judicial branch committee
It includes the family court buildings in Kent and Sussex counties as well as the Justice of The Peace Court 3 & 17 in Georgetown and Justice of The Peace Court 11 in New Castle.
People should note there are some limitations.
"Those include that the public will not be able to take pictures or record inside the courthouse and additionally when inside the courtroom cell phones will need to be silenced or shut off," explained Asay.
Asay says there is no end date yet and they will be closely following the public's feedback.
"Once we start seeing what we're getting back it'll give us some sense as to how long we want to pilot the program if there are tweaks that we need to make and sort of best practices for moving forward," said Asay.
It's important to note this project is only a pilot and the rules may be adjusted as it is implemented if the pilot program goes well, it could be extended to other courthouses.
To view the committee's full report click here: https://courts.delaware.gov/forms/download.aspx?id=133868
