BALTIMORE, Md. – On December 9, the Circuit Court for Baltimore City celebrated the grand opening of the Harry A. Cole Court Help Access & Information Center. The center is now officially open, and it is in Room 618 of the Bar Library at the Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. Courthouse, 100 N. Calvert Street in Baltimore. The center is named after the late Harry A. Cole, the first African American appointed to the Maryland Court of Appeals, now renamed the Supreme Court of Maryland.
“Court help centers provide increased access to justice for the self-represented, who can
look to help center staff to provide a variety of services via online chat and telephone to help those without counsel access the courts effectively,” said Supreme Court of Maryland Chief Justice Matthew J. Fader. “The help centers are crucial to advancing the Judiciary’s mission of providing fair, efficient, and effective justice to all.”The new help center provides self-represented litigants with access to a range of resources, including the ability to chat online with Maryland Court Help Center attorneys from the center’s computer workstations. Through local court help centers, Maryland residents can receive assistance with district and circuit court civil legal matters, including landlord-tenant, family law issues such as divorce, custody, child support, and guardianship, expungement, consumer matters including debt collection, the return of property, domestic violence and peace orders, and foreclosure.
“The new Harry A. Cole Court Help Access & Information Center provides self-represented litigants with an easy way to research their cases and court related information in one place,” said Administrative and Chief Judge Audrey J.S. Carrión, Circuit Court for Baltimore City. “Additionally, court visitors can have access to plain language legal information and speak with an attorney for free via online chat using the center’s computers, or even on their own, utilizing the help center’s statewide network. This goes a long way towards helping court users have a positive experience as they navigate the court system.”
Additionally, court visitors can also use the center’s workstations to research legal topics, look up their case, complete court forms, watch Maryland Court Help webinars, and access a wide range of court help materials. Via telephone, online chat, and in person where available, court help center attorneys help individuals better understand court documents and may assist with completing court forms, teaching individuals how to file court documents, and prepare for court or mediation. The center also offers plain language brochures, posters, and other printed resources to support those navigating the legal system as well as a CourtTV monitor, which displays Maryland Court Help videos covering key legal and procedural topics. Last year, Maryland court help centers offered more than 200,000 instances of service statewide to self-represented litigants.
“Harry Augustus Cole, the first African American to serve on the Maryland Court of Appeals, fervently believed in the principle that is at once a constitutional command and an American value: equal justice under law,” said retired Court of Appeals Chief Judge Robert M. Bell and Bar Library Board Member. “He understood that for there to be equality of justice, there must first be access to justice and that access must be as available to those without resources as it is to those with resources. Thus, it is fitting, and Judge Cole would be delighted, that the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, in partnership with the Bar Library, is providing that first step by opening a Court Help Access & Information Center at the Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. Courthouse.”
The new Harry A. Cole Court Help Access & Information Center, located in the Mitchell Courthouse at the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, is open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., providing self-service legal assistance to unrepresented litigants.
The Judiciary also runs a statewide center that serves litigants remotely via phone, live chat, and email, Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. until 8 p.m. For more information on the Maryland Courts Help Centers, visit: https://mdcourts.gov/helpcenter
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