Delaware General Assembly


CHAPTER 234 - COURT OF COMMON PLEAS--KENT COUNTY

AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 262, VOLUME 37, LAWS OF DELAWARE, ENTITLED "AN ACT CREATING A COURT OF COMMON PLEAS FOR KENT COUNTY."

Be It Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Delaware in General Assembly Met (two-thirds of all of the members elected to each branch thereof concurring therein):

Section 1. That the Act entitled "An Act Creating a Court of Common Pleas for Kent County," being Chapter 262, Volume 37, Laws of Delaware, be and the same is hereby amended by striking out all of Section 8 of said Chapter and by substituting in lieu thereof a new Section to be known as Section 8.

Section 8. The writs, rules and processes of said Court of Common Pleas shall be served and executed by any Constable for Kent County and/or any County or State officer, in any County of Delaware, now authorized by law to serve general process. Any such Constable or County Officer, making any arrest, serving any writs, rules, processes or warrants, or otherwise serving said Court, shall receive the same fees as are allowed by law to Constables for such service performed on writs issued by a Justice of the Peace.

The fees and mileage provided for in this Section of this Act shall be taxed as a part of the costs of such proceeding, and shall be paid by the Clerk of the said Court to such Constable or County Officer when said costs are paid; provided, however, that in all criminal actions brought before said Court of Common Pleas such fees and mileage charges, if the costs are not paid by the Defendant in such proceeding, shall be paid by the Levy Court of Kent County upon bills, presented therefor, which shall have been approved by the Judge of said Court of Common Pleas.

Section 2. That the said Act be and the same is hereby further amended by striking out all of the first paragraph of Section 9 of said Chapter and by substituting in lieu thereof the following:

Section 9. The Court of Common Pleas shall have all of the powers of a Court of Record possessed by the Superior Court, and the Court of General Sessions of the State of Delaware, in the enforcement of its writs, rules and processes, the attendance of witnesses, the requiring of security for costs from non-resident plaintiffs, the production of documents, books and records and the production of all other necessary evidence.

Section 3. That said Act be and the same is hereby further amended by striking out all of the first paragraph of Section 12 of said Chapter and by substituting in lieu thereof a new paragraph as follows:

"A writ of Foreign Attachment may be issued out of said Court of Common Pleas in any action ex contractu or ex delicto against any person, firm or corporation upon praecipe and affidavit by the plaintiff or any other credible person and filed in said Court of Common Pleas, that the defendant resides out of the State, or is a corporation not created by or existing under the laws of this State and is justly indebted to the said plaintiff in a sum not exceeding One Thousand Dollars (01000.00) to be specified in said affidavit and where there are two or more defendants, one a resident of this State but without available means to pay the plaintiff's claim, that may be so stated in such affidavit and the attachment thereon may issue against the non-resident defendant or defendants, as if he or they were the only defendant or defendants, in the cause. The plaintiff's Statement of claim shall be filed within five days from the issuance of the writ."

Section 4. That said Act be and the same is hereby further amended by inserting a comma after the word "Court" where it occurs in the first line of the first paragraph of Section 13 thereof and adding immediately thereafter and before the word "shall" the following words:

"Except actions of Foreign Attachment,"

And that said Section 13 be further amended by striking out the period at the end of the second paragraph thereof on Page 844 and inserting a semi-colon in lieu thereof and adding immediately thereafter the following proviso as follows:--

"Provided, however, that upon application for an extension of time for filing an answer or a reply to new matter, the Court may, in its discretion, for good cause shown, extend the time for filing such answer or reply to new matter; whenever the last day for filing a statement of claim, an answer, a reply to new matter, for giving an appeal bond or a bond in foreign attachment cases, shall fall upon the Sabbath Day, or upon a legal holiday, such statement of claim, answer, or reply to new matter may be filed, and such appeal bond or foreign attachment bond may be given, on the next succeeding 'secular or business day."

Section 5. That said Act be and the same is hereby further amended by striking out all of Section 14 of said Chapter and by substituting in lieu thereof a new Section to be known as Section 14.

Section 14. All civil judgments rendered by said Court of Common Pleas shall be entered in a Judgment Docket, which shall be properly indexed. Said Judgment shall not constitute a lien upon real estate, but a transcript thereof may be filed in the office of the Prothonotary in and for Kent County upon motion made in said Court of Common Pleas by the judgment creditor in said judgment and the Prothonotary shall enter in his judgment docket the names of the parties, the amount of the judgment, the name of the Court in which said judgment was recovered, the time from which interest runs, and the amount of the costs, with the true date of such filing and entry, and such judgment, so transferred, shall, from that date, become and be a lien on all the real estate of the debtor in the county, in the same manner and as fully as judgments rendered in said Superior Court are liens, and may be executed and enforced in the same manner as judgments of the said Superior Court; and if any judgment shall be lawfully assigned to a joint debtor or surety, the assignee shall have the benefit of this section. Writs of execution for the seizure and sale of personal property based upon judgments obtained in said Court shall be issued in the same manner as is now provided by law for writs issuing out of the Prothonotary's office in Kent County for the seizure and sale of personal property; provided, however, that said Court, if it deem it advisable so to do, may, by rule of said Court made for that purpose, change said method of procedure.

Section 6. That said Act be and the same is hereby further amended by striking out all of Section 15 of said Chapter and by substituting in lieu thereof a new Section to be known as Section 15:

Section 15. All civil cases tried before said Court of Common Pleas shall be without jury; provided, however, any party in interest may have a trial by jury to be chosen by the Judge of said Court, if the party desiring the same shall designate his or her preference before the trial. The jury shall consist of not less than three, nor more than five members, as the party in interest asking for the same shall request, and the verdict or finding of the majority of the jury shall be decisive. The jurors shall have like qualifications as jurors in the Superior Court.

Approved April 12, 1935.