United States District Court
for the Northern Mariana Islands
P.O. Box 500687
123 Kopa Di Oru Street, Garapan
Saipan, MP  96950
 

January 18, 2019

PUBLIC NOTICE / PRESS RELEASE

The United States District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands wishes to reassure the public that it is open for business to perform its constitutional functions and will remain open throughout the partial shutdown of federal operations. Court staff will be on the job to provide services to litigants. The Clerk's Office is open during regular business hours, 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., to accept filings and payments. The electronic case management system (CM-ECF) is unaffected and remains accessible to all users.

As of today, the court will conduct business as usual and court employees will be paid through January 25, 2019. After that date, when Judiciary fees and carryforward balances are projected to run out, the Court will remain open, although administrative functions will be limited and, if necessary, some court employees may be furloughed.

Civil and criminal cases will proceed as scheduled. The Court will continue to hold hearings, trials, and settlement conferences. Parties who are negatively impacted by the shutdown and need relief from deadlines must request extensions of time by motion or stipulation, in accordance with the Local Rules. Similarly, those who are under Court order to make payments, such as fines or restitution, are not excused from those obligations because of the shutdown.

The Probation Office also remains open and operating. Clients must maintain contact with the Probation Office consistent with the terms of their probation, supervised release, or pretrial release.

It is our privilege to serve the Northern Mariana Islands community. The partial shutdown does not diminish our determination or ability to provide constitutionally mandated services.

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