Cecil Cnty. Cir. Ct. Civil DCM Plan 6.4

Counsel shall be in the courtroom 30 minutes prior to the start of the first day of trial in order to

have any documentary evidence that shall be proffered into evidence pre-marked by the courtroom

clerk and for any outstanding preliminary matters to be decided.

7. Postponement Policy.

This policy reflects Maryland Judicial Cabinet’s (now the Executive Committee of the Judicial

Council) definitions, as follows:

Postponement – a proceeding that was not held and is being rescheduled

Continuance – a proceeding that has begun and is extended for additional day(s)

The purpose of this policy is to promote timely disposition and the avoidance of

unnecessary delay of cases in the Circuit Court for Cecil County in accordance with the Maryland

Annotated Code and the Maryland Rules of Procedure.

Postponement of any previously set court date greatly increases the challenge to the Court

in managing its cases expeditiously. It has a rippling effect on the court staff, assignment of

judicial time, and allocation of resources generally. All dates, once set, are important dates.

Trial/hearing dates which take the case beyond the Maryland case time standards are violations by

the Court of the standards. Postponements will be granted only for substantial, unforeseen and

unforeseeable reasons, the denial of which will make the possibility of a fair trial/hearing remote

or non-existent.

In consideration of all postponement requests, the Court shall carefully apply all relevant

sections of the Maryland Annotated Code and the Maryland Rules of Procedure, review possible

effects of a postponement on the parties and witnesses, and evaluate future scheduling issues. The

Court will meet the Maryland Circuit Court case time standards for processing cases. This will

require a strict and uniformly applied postponement policy.

Attorneys are expected to know their schedules prior to entering their appearance in any

case.