State failed to mail thousands of court appearance notices in Del.

(AP) – State officials are trying to determine why court appearance notices were not mailed to thousands of criminal defendants in Delaware, some of whom may have been arrested for not showing up in court.

Officials said Friday that some 9,500 appearance notices for criminal cases in the Court of Common Pleas were not mailed between June 1 and Oct. 3, equal to about 20 percent of the notices the court sent out during that period.

State technology workers are working to determine the cause and scope of the problem, which also resulted in some cases being dismissed for witnesses' failure to appear.

Meanwhile, officials are taking several steps to address the issue, including withdrawing warrants issued in traffic arraignment and criminal cases in which notices to defendants were not sent.