Wilmington Court Information, Location and Rules

Since 1883, the Wilmington municipal court served as the judicial body in the city of Wilmington in New Castle County, Delaware. It was established by statute by the General Assembly. However, on May 1, 1998, the Wilmington municipal court merged with the County Court of Common Pleas. All the responsibilities of the Wilmington municipal court were taken up by the court of common pleas. The city of Wilmington is presently served by the County Court of Common Pleas in New Castle County. This is a limited jurisdiction which can arrange for jury trials in certain cases.

Wilmington Court: Jurisdiction

The civil jurisdiction of the Court of Common Pleas located in Wilmington is as follows:

•    Petitions involving change of name
•    Civil cases (including tort, real property, and contract) where the amount of dispute is within the upper limit of $50,000
•    Hearings of motor vehicles habitual offenders
•    Administrative appeals cases directed from the Division of Motor Vehicles
•    Appeals related to civil cases directed from the Justice of the Peace Courts

Wilmington Court exercises jurisdiction over criminal cases of the following types:

•    Motor vehicle criminal offenses
•    Misdemeanor cases (excluding particular drug offense charges)
•    Felony cases (only preliminary hearings is done)
•    Appeals related to criminal cases directed from Alderman’s Courts
•    Appeals related to criminal cases directed from the Justice of the Peace Courts

Traffic Court at Wilmington

The Wilmington municipal court established traffic court during its tenure. The concept was revived by the New Castle County Court of Common Pleas on November 4, 2003. It handles all the motor vehicle related cases in the county. In order to make the procedure time saving and cost effective, traffic court organizes for a trial and arraignment on the same date, i.e. the date of appearance in court.

Wilmington Court: Location and Contact Details

Though the Wilmington municipal court was merged with the Court of Common Pleas the location of the court is at the city of Wilmington itself. The New Castle County Court of Common Pleas is located at the following address:

500 North King Street
Wilmington, DE 19801
(302) 255-0900

The court remains open on all weekdays from 8:30 a.m. till 4:30 p.m. The best time to call the court is, however, between 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. or between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. These are the times when the volume of the phone calls is lesser than that in the peak hours.

CourtConnect: Find Court Case Information

The Court of Common Pleas operating in Wilmington offers information about civil cases filed there through the Internet. The online service, known as CourtConnect, gives you access to the details of the civil court cases on a twenty four hour, seven days a week basis. For this you need to go to the following website: http://courtconnect.courts.delaware.gov/public/ck_public_qry_main.cp_main_idx.

You can do the case search using a number of search criteria. If you want to search on the basis of an individual’s name or the case type, you need to fill up the fields on http://courtconnect.courts.delaware.gov/public/ck_public_qry_cpty.cp_personcase_setup_idx and opt for a relevant search.

A judgment search can be conducted at http://courtconnect.courts.delaware.gov/public/ck_public_qry_judg.cp_judgment_setup_idx.

For a docket report of a particular case, you need to provide the information required on the webpage http://courtconnect.courts.delaware.gov/public/ck_public_qry_doct.cp_dktrpt_setup_idx.

ePayment: Pay Fines Online

If a fine has been imposed for a particular offense, you can visit the court location in Wilmington and pay it in person. You may also use the ePayment online service available from the Court of Common Pleas. Visit https://pubsrv.deljis.delaware.gov/ePayment/Default.aspx. Enter the case number or the ticket or summons number along with your last name for paying your fine online.