ER CURIAM 

AND NOW, this 13th day of August, 2021, the Application for Relief, filed pursuant 

to Rule of Judicial Administration 1952(B)(2), is DENIED, WITHOUT PREJUDICE. 

The instant Application requests that this Court authorize the President Judge to 

implement local Emergency Judicial Order No. 20-3264, captioned “In re Court Action to 

Reduce Evictions.”  Relatedly, the Application asks that, “insofar as timeframes outlined 

[in that Order] conflict with any statutorily provided timeframes for eviction actions,  [the 

President  Judge  be  empowered]  to  temporarily  suspend  operation  of  those  rules[.]”  

Application at 2.   

To the extent the Application seeks the authority to suspend statutory provisions, 

the Application identifies no passage of Rule of Judicial Administration 1952 that would 

permit empowering a President Judge to suspend a statute, and this Court is unlikely to 

grant such relief absent a robust showing of legal authority and compelling need.   

Insofar as the Application seeks permission for the President Judge to suspend 

procedural rules, it is noted that the Application offers no detailed, particular account of 

the  present  status  of  the  distribution  of  emergency  rental  assistance  funds  in  Berks 

County.  See, e.g., In re 7th Judicial Dist., 43 MM 2020 (in an application submitted by the 

President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Bucks County, detailing precisely how 

ORDER 

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA 
MIDDLE DISTRICT 
 

No. 53 MM 2020 

     

: 
: 
: 

IN RE: 23RD JUDICIAL DISTRICT 
DECLARATION OF JUDICIAL 
EMERGENCY (BERKS COUNTY) 

 

   

    P

 

 

much  emergency  rental  assistance  had  been  received  and  distributed  to  date  in  that 

county); In re 5th Judicial Dist., 23 WM 2020 (in an application submitted by the President 

Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, providing county-specific data 

as  to  the  amount  of  emergency  rental assistance  received and  distributed  to date,  the 

number of applications received, and the average processing time for such applications).  

Respectfully, absent such detailed information, the Application fails to establish that the 

present status of landlord-tenant matters in Berks County constitutes a judicial emergency 

to support granting the President Judge the authority to suspend procedural rules on a 

temporary basis.  See Pa.R.J.A. 1952(B)(2)(m) (indicating that, in the context of a local 

judicial emergency, the Supreme Court may empower the President Judge to suspend or 

modify statewide court rules).   
 

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