Pew Applauds New Delaware Law Establishing Court Date Reminder Program

DOVER, DE-The Pew Charitable Trusts today commended the Delaware General Assembly and Governor Matt Meyer (D) for enacting Senate Joint Resolution 13, which directs the Delaware judiciary to launch a pilot text message reminder program to automatically notify people about upcoming Justice of the Peace Court dates. The bipartisan resolution, which passed unanimously in the Senate and the House, creates a research-backed process to reduce missed court appearances-a problem that currently leads to avoidable arrests, driver's license suspensions, and case backlogs across the state.

Ruth Rosenthal, director of Pew's courts and communities project, issued the following statement:

"We applaud Delaware leaders for taking a thoughtful, evidence-based step to help people get to their required court dates. S.J.R. 13 is a common-sense reform that will improve court efficiency and curtail the consequential outcomes that can result from missing court.

"Missing court because you forgot the date, lost the paperwork, or never received the notice can have serious and lasting consequences, including arrest warrants, license suspensions, and even jail time. Most missed appearances are not intentional. They're the result of a basic communication gap or of life getting in the way. A text reminder-the same kind of message we already get from our dentists and doctors-closes that gap.

"What makes this resolution especially notable is that it follows what the research shows works best to maximize court appearances: automatic enrollment, plain-language messages, and multiple reminders before a hearing. States that have designed their reminder programs this way are seeing positive improvements in court appearance rates, and Delaware is now positioning itself to do the same."

S.J.R. 13 has broad bipartisan support. The resolution was authored and sponsored by Senate Minority Whip Brian Pettyjohn (R), with additional sponsorship from Senator Marie Pinkney (D), Representative Franklin Cooke (D), Representative Jeff Hilovsky (R), and House Speaker Melissa Minor-Brown (D). The legislation establishes a pilot text reminder program in Justice of the Peace Court, where most of the state's criminal and traffic cases are handled. Consistent with best practices in the field, court users will be automatically enrolled and can opt out or decline to share a phone number at any time. The resolution also directs the judiciary to study the cost, timeline, and requirements for extending the program to the Court of Common Pleas, Family Court, and Superior Court and to report on it to the General Assembly by June 1, 2027.

Missing court is a leading driver of preventable arrests and license suspensions in Delaware, according to advocates and court stakeholders. In a recent Pew poll, half of U.S. adults who had missed a court date said it was because they forgot, didn't receive notice, or were confused by the information they did receive-all causes that can be addressed by automated reminders. That same polling found broad bipartisan public support for the approach: 71% of U.S. adults feel positively about courts sending reminders, including 77% of Democrats and 66% of Republicans.

Only 18 states and Washington, D.C., currently offer statewide court reminder programs, and most still require court users to opt in. With the enactment of S.J.R. 13, Delaware joins a growing group of states aligning their court systems with the modern communication practices that people already rely on in nearly every other part of their lives.