ANNAPOLIS, MD (November 21, 2003) – In an effort to provide greater public access to District Court Commissioners, a new pager contact system has been established that will allow citizens to reach on-call commissioners directly, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

When calling the commissioner’s office after normal hours, the caller will hear a recorded message, which will provide the name and the direct pager number of the on-call commissioner on duty. After calling the direct pager number, the caller should receive a response from a commissioner within 10 minutes of the page. The commissioner will then report to the duty station if needed.

“This level of direct citizen access, after hours, will be historic,” said David Weissert, coordinator of commissioner activity for the District Court. “The elimination of a third party contact to get access to a commissioner will help reduce confusion and frustration for the person who is trying to bring an issue before the commissioner.”

District Court Commissioners issue charging documents, accept bonds, conduct pre-trial release hearings for arrested individuals and issue criminal summonses and arrest warrants. In addition, commissioners issue interim protective orders and peace orders. 

A county-by-county listing of District Court Commissioner Offices is located on the Maryland Judiciary website at http://www.courts.state.md.us/district/dctcomm.html. For more information, please contact the Court Information Office at 410/260-1488.