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 Back | 144th General Assembly
Senate Bill # 242 |
| Primary Sponsor: | Adams | Additional Sponsor(s): Sen. DeLuca Reps. Spence Valihura & Wagner |
| CoSponsors: | { NONE...} |
| Introduced on : | 04/23/2008 | |
| Long Title: | AN ACT PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE IV OF THE DELAWARE CONSTITUTION OF 1897, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO THE JUDICIARY AND THE CHIEF MAGISTRATE OF THE JUSTICE OF THE PEACE COURT. |
| Synopsis: | The Justice of the Peace Court is a court provided by Article IV of the Delaware Constitution of 1897, as amended. See State v. Guthman, 619 A.2d 1175, 1178 (Del.Supr. 1993)(within its statutory jurisdiction Justice of the Peace Court has the “same inherent powers of any other constitutional court.”); State ex rel. Rockey v. Hatton, 10 Terry at 266, 114 A.2d 651, 652 (Del. Super. 1955); Farrell v. Md. Credit Fin. Corp. of Md., Thomas Hughes, Inc., 2 W.W.Harr. 569, 32 Del. 569, 127 A. 879 (Del.Super., 1924). All other state system courts in Delaware are administered by judges who are designated “State Judges” by that Article. The Justice of the Peace Court, however, is administered by the Chief Magistrate who is neither a State Judge nor a specifically identified constitutional officer. The amendment will correct this anomaly by making the Chief Magistrate a State Judge under Article IV. Several advantages flow from this. Designating the Chief Magistrate a State Judge will permit the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, as the need arises, to designate that the Chief Magistrate sit on other constitutional courts pursuant to Article IV, section 13(b). The amendment also requires that the Chief Magistrate meet the qualifications for being a State Judge. One of these is that State Judges must be “learned in the law,” i.e. admitted to practice law. See Smith v. Justice of Peace Court No. 1, Del. Super, C.A. No. 89-SE-02, Lee, J., 1990 WL 123051 (Aug. 7, 1990); Bayard v. McLane,3 Harr. 139, 3 Del. 139, 1840 WL 374 (Del. Err. & App., 1840). Presently, this qualification is applied to the position of Chief Magistrate by Executive Order, but is not mandated by law. Additionally, the Chief Magistrate is a member of the State Judicial Conference and participates equally with the other members of the Conference, all of whom are State Judges.
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| Committee Reports: |
Senate Committee report 05/07/08 F=5 M=0 U=0-----> |
| Voting Reports: |
Senate vote: () Passed 5/8/08 3:21:27 PM-------> |
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Actions History:
| May 13, 2008 - Introduced and Assigned to Judiciary Committee in House
May 08, 2008 - Passed by Senate. Votes: 19 YES 0 NO 0 NOT VOTING 2 ABSENT
May 07, 2008 - Reported Out of Committee (EXECUTIVE) in Senate with 5 Favorable
Apr 23, 2008 - Assigned to Executive Committee in Senate
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