Postponement Policy
Any request for postponement of a hearing date scheduled in the Family Division shall be made through a written motion filed at least thirty (30) days before the hearing date. The court may conduct a hearing on a written motion if it so chooses.
If the scheduled hearing date is less than thirty days and there are exigent circumstances*, a hearing date may be modified only by participating in a postponement hearing via teleconference, in which the court will hear from all parties and/or counsel whose appearances are entered in the case.
Postponement requests for cases set in the Family Division made for exigent circumstances will be heard daily at 4:00 p.m. on the record and before a Judge. Parties and/or counsel seeking a postponement shall contact the Family Division Assignment Office (410-209-6366) no later than 3:45 p.m. to request a postponement hearing which will be held via teleconference. Failure to make a request in a timely fashion may result in the court considering the request on the following day.
It is the responsibility of the party seeking the postponement to contact all necessary persons and ensure they are available so that the court may conduct the hearing via teleconference. The court will not conduct the postponement hearing unless all parties to the matter and/or all counsel whose appearances are entered in the case are available and ready to participate in the teleconference hearing.
*Exigent circumstances mean an unforeseen development that occurs within thirty (30) days of the date for which a postponement is sought. In these cases, the court will entertain a request for postponement without the filing of a motion with the Clerk via the process noted above, though a written request filed within 30 days of a scheduled hearing will be reviewed by the court in making its postponement decision. If a hearing is to occur more than thirty days before the date when postponement is sought, the party seeking a postponement must file a written motion.
PLEASE NOTE: Personnel from the Clerk’s Office and the Family Division Administrative Office cannot change court dates.
