District and municipal courts in the greater Boston area are seeking more judges to handle the hundreds of delayed cases coming due as attorneys’ strike heads into “uncharted territory.”

Many cases are now reaching their 45th day since the bar advocates — private attorneys who take on court-appointed defense roles in criminal matters — began their work stoppage. These bar advocates represent around 80% of indigent defendants in Massachusetts.

Under what’s known as the Lavallee Protocol, those defendants’ past their 45th day without a lawyer receive a hearing and may have their cases dismissed, at least temporarily.

The Boston Municipal Court Department expects to hear about 130 cases at their first 45-day hearing scheduled for Tuesday, according to the courts motion. At the next 45-day hearing on Aug. 5, the Boston Municipal Court would need to hear about 225 cases.

The District Court Department hasn’t yet scheduled a first 45-day hearing but anticipates 147 defendants on the first date, the motion states. About 300 more would be heard two weeks later.

These number make it “patently impossible” for the courts to conduct all the required hearings with the judges currently allotted by the order: only one judge for the Boston Municipal Court Department and one judge for the District Court Department.

“The Courts request that the Order be modified in the only way that would make it possible for the 45-day hearings to proceed in a prompt manner: by adding more judges,” the Courts’ motion states.

The “sheer volume of Lavallee proceedings” and onset of the 45-day hearings have put “all parties are now firmly in uncharted territory,” the motion said.

Defendants held in custody have already started to be released after seven days without a lawyer, due to the emergency protocol. The Boston Municipal Court Department has released 15 pre-trial defendants, and the District Court Department has released another eight over the past two hearing dates.

The Courts said preparing for the hearings has taken “tremendous effort and collaboration from all stakeholders.”

“The Courts, CPCS, and prosecutors have been working diligently to exchange updated Lavallee lists and case-related documents, triage cases, coordinate the transportation of defendants, and navigate the many logistical challenges precipitated by the severe shortage of defense counsel willing and available to take on new matters (including as a result of the ongoing work stoppage),” the motion stated.

Victim witness advocates have also scrambled to notify victims in cases “where the defendant is charged with a violent crime and may be subject to release or the dismissal of charges based on a lack of representation,” the Court said.

Gov. Maura Healey called the strike a “matter of public safety and of “due process” last week. The governor urged a swift resolution but said there is an outstanding question of “how much more money and when.”

Beacon Hill budget writers said last week that talks are underway around the issue.

“We’re working through it,” said House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Aaron Michlewitz on Wednesday. “We understand the challenges, and we certainly have those concerns. I wish we had had further conversations prior to our budget cycles, both in the House and the Senate, but that’s the circumstances that we are in right now.”

Emphasizing the urgency of the looming hearings, the Court said in its motion, “If this emergency request is not granted, the Boston Municipal Court Department anticipates that it will be unable to complete the approximately 130 hearings currently scheduled to take place on (Tuesday).”

The Courts requested the emergency motion for more judges be heard on Monday at 2:00 p.m. or anytime before Tuesday.