The Guide 8.24 - Flipbook - Page 44
44
PUBLIC LIFE
ON THE DOCKET
A guide to Anne Arundel district and circuit courts
By Maggie Trovato
If you get a traffic ticket, have a
dispute with your landlord or are
charged with a misdemeanor crime, you
likely will have to appear in one of the
district courts in Anne Arundel County.
They’re located at 251 Rowe Blvd. in
Annapolis and 7500 Gov. Ritchie Highway in Glen Burnie. These courts also
have jurisdiction over other matters,
including replevin, which is the process
of provisionally obtaining your seized
property while the rights to it are sorted
out, as well as small claims lawsuits
involving claims of $5,000 or less.
Felony crimes and other various
lawsuits and proceedings, like marriage
licensing, are handled in the Circuit
Court for Anne Arundel County, at 8
Church Circle in Annapolis.
The circuit courthouse is also home
to the Anne Arundel County Sheriff’s
Office, a law enforcement agency tasked
with serving warrants and court paperwork as well as providing security at the
courthouse.
The county’s Orphans’ Court and
Office of the Register of Wills moved out
of the circuit courthouse in July 2022.
Both are now at 2011 E-Commerce Park
Drive in Annapolis.
To find out more about the county’s
circuit courthouse, visit circuitcourt.
org.
The circuit court website provides a
number of avenues for people in need
of legal assistance, whether to check
their eligibility for representation by a
public defender in a criminal case, get
Maryland Legal Aid’s help in a housing matter or do some research at the
People’s Law Library.
The site will also guide you on other
services provided at the courthouse,
like applying for a passport or a business
license. Also, you can check what’s on
the docket for each courtroom that day.
The Office of the Public Defender for
Anne Arundel County is headquartered
in Annapolis, though it has branches
in both district courts. Find out more
about the county branch of the Office of
the Public Defender at opd.state.md.us/
anne-arundel.
The Anne Arundel County State’s
Attorney’s Office prosecutes crimes in
Annapolis and the county. It’s headquartered in the circuit court, but has
offices in both district courts. For more
information about the State’s Attorney’s
Office, visit aacounty.org/departments/
sao.
All of the county’s courts are open
Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m.
to 4:30 p.m.
People looking to review information
about court cases may do so through
the Maryland Judiciary’s Case Search
website at casesearch.courts.state.
md.us/casesearch. Users can review
criminal and civil cases filed in the court
system with information on upcoming
court dates, charges, attorneys, judges
and bail status.
Though open and closed civil cases
are available to search, only open and
convicted criminal cases will appear
on Case Search. If a defendant is found
not guilty, the case will be expunged
and unavailable to review through the
judiciary.
At any courthouse in Anne Arundel
County and most throughout the state,
citizens can review documents filed in
a case through the Maryland Electronic
Courts system. Unlike Case Search,
when logged into a court computer,
documents related to charges, court
decisions or correspondence are available to view and print. The courts
charge 50 cents per page and accept
only cash payments.
Some courts have MDEC-accessible computers in their law libraries; the
best way to locate a computer, however,
is to ask an attendant at an information
desk.
Citizens may also request audio
or written transcripts of Anne Arundel court cases by filling out a form at
aacounty.org/court-transcripts. Be sure
to specify which day or days you’d like a
transcript for.
Electronic audio recordings cost
$35 per download and are available for
hearings held after July 1, 1999. Each full
day of a hearing is considered a separate
electronic download.
Readable transcripts generally
cost more, with standard prices for a
30-minute hearing ranging slightly
more than $100 and a full day of
proceedings averaging $1,350.
The Anne Arundel County Court House in Annapolis is the home of the Circuit Court.
JEFFREY F. BILL/STAFF PHOTOS
Robert F. Sweeney District Court in Anne Arundel County, 251 Rowe Blvd., in Annapolis.
