Circuit Court for Prince George's County Adjournment & Extension Requirements

Postponement motions for adjudicatory hearings beyond statutory deadlines may be granted only upon a showing of extraordinary cause, and ordinary scheduling conflicts generally do not qualify.

Motions for postponement of Adjudicatory Hearings beyond the statutorily-mandated deadlines will be ruled on by the Family or Juvenile Coordinating Judge or the designee of the County Administrative Judge. These motions will only be granted on a showing of extraordinary cause. Extraordinary cause is that which is not foreseeable, usual, or predictable. Generally, scheduling conflicts on their face do not constitute extraordinary cause.

The County Administrative Judge or designee will rule on written motions to postpone hearings exceeding statutorily mandated deadlines that do not require extraordinary cause; such motions will be granted only upon a showing of good cause.

The County Administrative Judge or his/her designee will rule on written motions for postponement of hearings that exceed statutorily mandated deadlines, but do not require a finding of extraordinary cause. These motions will only be granted on a showing of good cause.

A request to postpone or reschedule a Settlement Conference requires a motion for continuance; the Office of Calendar Management clears dates with counsel rather than having counsel propose them, and a new notice issues after all parties agree.

Any request to postpone or re‐schedule a Settlement Conference requires that the parties file a motion for continuance. The file and continuance will be sent to the Office of Calendar Management for new dates. Once the file is received, the Office of Calendar Management will call and clear new dates with counsel. Counsel does not propose dates. A new notice will generate once a date has been agreed upon by all.

A party or attorney with a conflict on the scheduled hearing date must file a timely motion and allow the opposing party time to respond.

If a party or attorney has a conflict on the date of the scheduled hearing, they must file a timely motion providing time for the opposing party to respond as provided for in the rules.

A party must file a timely motion to address the scheduling change when the matter becomes contested and allow the opposing party time to respond.

If the matter has become contested, the party must file a timely motion providing time for the opposing party to respond as provided for in the rules.

An attorney unable to attend the initial Scheduling Conference must contact the Office of Calendar Management at least seven days in advance to obtain a new date and time.

If an attorney is unable to attend the initial Scheduling Conference, he or she MUST contact the Office of Calendar Management at least 7 days in advance to obtain a new date/time.

Hearing dates set at the Scheduling Conference may be postponed only by a motion showing good cause.

Hearing dates established at the time of the conference shall not be postponed except upon motion for good cause.

The scheduling or rescheduling of every specially assigned family case must receive advance approval from the Office of Calendar Management.

The scheduling or re‐scheduling of all specially assigned cases must be cleared with the Office of Calendar Management in advance in order to ensure judicial availability.

A continuance that would place a specially assigned family matter beyond the applicable time standards is handled by the Family Coordinating Judge.

Continuances that would set the matter beyond time standards will be handled by the Family Coordinating Judge.

A family-case postponement must be requested by written motion submitted to the coordinating judge for approval.

A written motion for postponement is sent to the coordinating judge for approval.

Parties may request a continuance when unavailable for the scheduled trial date if the new date is cleared with the Office of Calendar Management and is within 60 days of the original date.

If the parties are unavailable on the scheduled trial date, they may file a consent request for continuance provided that the date is cleared with the Office of Calendar Management and the new trial date is within 60 days of the original date.

A party must file a court motion to request a trial date more than 60 days after the original date.

To request a date beyond 60 days from the original date the party must file a motion with the court.

Only the Civil Coordinating Judge may approve continuances.

Continuances are only to be approved by the Civil Coordinating Judge.

Postponement requests for civil proceedings generally must be made by motion under Md. Rules 2-508 and 2-311 and are considered by the Civil Coordinating Judge or designee.

Except as provided below, requests for the postponement of any civil proceedings, shall be made by motion pursuant to Md. Rules 2‐508 and 2‐311. These requests will be considered, in accordance with the provisions of this Plan, by the Civil Coordinating Judge or his/her designee.

Consent of the parties or incomplete discovery alone does not justify postponement; requests must be timely, and last-minute requests absent emergencies will be denied.

Cases will not be postponed merely by the consent of the parties or because discovery has not been completed. Any request for postponement must be timely made. Last minute requests for postponement, absent emergencies, shall be denied.

Before judicial consideration, the moving party or counsel must coordinate with the Office of Calendar Management to propose a reset date consistent with case time standards; failure to do so may result in denial or nonconsideration.

Before the Court will consider any request for postponement, the moving party or counsel must coordinate with the Office of Calendar Management a proposed re‐ set date, consistent with the case time standards. Failure to coordinate this date may result in the postponement not being considered.

A vacation-based postponement request must be made within 10 calendar days of the scheduled event.

For vacations, requests for postponement must be made within 10 calendar days of the scheduled event;

A trial postponement may be granted only for good cause and only by the Criminal Coordinating Judge or another judge assigned by the County Administrative Judge.

Postponements will only be granted for good cause by the Criminal Coordinating Judge or other judge assigned by the County Administrative Judge.

All postponement requests must be considered by the County Administrative Judge or the Administrative Judge's designee.

Pursuant to Md. Rule 4-271(a)(1) all postponement requests must be considered by the County Administrative Judge or his/her designee.

Only one judge at a time may be designated with postponement authority.

Pursuant to the Rule, only one judge may be designated to have postponement authority at a time.

For specially assigned cases, the assigned judge initiates subsequent case management and scheduling, but the designated postponement judge must decide postponements or scheduling affecting the trial date or 180-day Hicks period.

If the case is specially assigned, subsequent case management decisions and scheduling will be initiated by the specially assigned judge consistent with the case time standards, however, pursuant to Md. Rule 4-271(a)(1), all postponements or scheduling that affects the trial date or the 180-day Hicks period, must be made by the judge who is designated by the County Administrative Judge to rule on postponements.

The designated postponement judge must consult the specially assigned judge for a postponement recommendation and clear new court dates on that judge's calendar.

The designated postponement judge will confer with the specially assigned judge for a recommendation as to the postponement and to clear new court dates on the assigned judge’s calendar.

Scheduling or rescheduling of every specially assigned case must be approved in advance by the Office of Calendar Management.

The scheduling or re‐scheduling of all specially assigned cases must also be cleared in advance with the Office of Calendar Management in order to ensure judicial and juror availability.

A party seeking a postponement must coordinate the proposed reset date with the opposing party, Court, and Office of Calendar Management; failure to do so may prevent consideration, while compliance neither guarantees the continuance nor constitutes the Court's consent.

Any party requesting a postponement of a trial or any other hearing shall coordinate a proposed re‐ set date with the opposing party, the Court, and the Office of Calendar Management consistent with case time standards. Failure to coordinate a re‐set date may result in the postponement not being considered. Compliance with this procedure does not guarantee that any continuance will be granted and will not be interpreted by the Court as constituting consent to the postponement.

A same-day postponement request must be raised at the beginning of the criminal docket and promptly referred to the designated postponement judge; if denied, the case returns to the trial judge.

Counsel requesting postponement of a case on the day it is set for trial or hearing shall bring it to the Court’s attention at the beginning of the criminal docket and shall promptly be referred to the designated postponement judge for consideration. If the postponement request is denied, the case shall be referred back to the trial judge for further handling.

When any postponement implicates the Hicks Rule, the designated judge must make the waiver or good-cause finding in open court with the defendant present; written waivers are prohibited, and counsel may coordinate the hearing with the Criminal Coordinating Judge's chambers.

If the postponement of any event will, in any way, implicate the Hicks Rule, a Hicks waiver or finding of good cause must be made in open court, by the designated postponement judge. The defendant shall be present in open court and written waivers will not be accepted. If necessary, counsel may coordinate a postponement/Hicks hearing with the chambers of the Criminal Coordinating Judge.

A disposition hearing for a detained or community-detained respondent may be postponed if the court finds good cause.

The Disposition Hearing may be postponed upon a finding of good cause, pursuant to CJP §3‐8A‐15(d)(6)(ii).

The court permits only one postponement of a trial date, and only for possible settlement or good cause.

The Circuit Court for Prince George’s County will permit only one postponement of the trial date for possible settlement, or for good cause.

When a trial is postponed for good cause, a new date is assigned, when possible within the time standard, before the originally assigned trial judge.

If the trial date is postponed for good cause, a new trial date will be rescheduled, within time-standard when possible, on the calendar of the originally assigned trial judge.

Track 3 cases are subject to a strict postponement policy because parties and counsel had an opportunity to address scheduling at the Status Conference.

For Track 3 cases, a strict postponement policy will be followed since parties and counsel will have had the opportunity to provide input on scheduling at the time of the Status Conference.

When postponement is granted, the Scheduling Order remains effective except as amended by the postponement order, and the Court controls future case scheduling under the Plan.

If a postponement is granted, the provisions of the Scheduling Order shall remain in effect except as may be amended by the terms of the postponement order. The Court shall determine the future scheduling of the case consistent with the intent and purposes of this Plan.

For specially assigned cases, postponement requests go to the specially assigned judge, but trial-date postponement standards remain the same as for other cases.

If a case has been specially assigned, postponement requests shall be directed to the specially assigned judge. The standards for postponement of the trial date shall remain the same as for cases not specially assigned.

The listed circumstances are generally not considered good cause for postponement.

The following are generally NOT considered good cause for postponement:

A Motion for Postponement, form CC-DC-070, is used to request a change to a scheduled hearing or trial.

The following form is used to request a change in a scheduled hearing or trial at the Circuit Court. CC‐DC‐070 Motion for Postponement

The postponement-authority limitation generally applies to specially assigned cases as well as all other Circuit Court cases, subject to stated exceptions.

Except as stated below, this limitation on postponement authority applies to all cases in the Circuit Court, including cases that are specially assigned to a judge.

Same-day postponement requests for VOP, post-conviction, coram nobis, sentencing, modification, status-conference, and juvenile-waiver matters must be made to the assigned judge instead of following the same-day referral procedure.

The above-mentioned procedure shall not apply to VOP, post‐conviction, coram nobis, sentencing, modification hearings, status conferences, or juvenile waiver hearings. In those cases, requests for postponement shall be made to the judge to whom the case is assigned.

The Court may extend the discovery deadline for good cause shown.

The Court, for good cause shown, may extend the time for discovery.

The listed circumstances are generally treated as good cause for postponement.

The following shall generally be considered good cause for postponement:

For VOP, post-conviction, coram nobis, sentencing, modification, status-conference, and juvenile-waiver matters, the assigned judge may schedule and postpone the matter at that judge's discretion.

These limitations do not apply to VOP, post‐conviction, coram nobis, sentencing, modification hearings, status conferences, or juvenile waiver hearings. In those matters, the judge to whom the case is assigned, may schedule and postpone them in the judge’s discretion.