Court Structure, State

Hierarchy

Broadly speaking, there are two types of state courts: trial (original jurisdiction) and appellate courts. however, in many states there is more than one type of trial court: Forty-four states have one or more of these courts of limited jurisdiction—courts with subject matter jurisdiction confined to certain kinds of cases, either in terms of the nature of the case (e.g., probate, tax, and surrogate courts), the amount of money in controversy (e.g., small claims court), the type of crime with which the defendant is charged (e.g., juvenile court), or the geographic region the court encompasses (e.g., municipal, town, city, and parish courts). Unfortunately, a court's name does not always inform whether it is a court of limited jurisdiction, or, for that matter, what kinds of cases it is authorized to hear. Jurisdiction in some states is defined by the state constitution, but more often is provided by the state legislature.

While it is difficult to generalize about limited jurisdiction courts, several features stand out. First, some states and judicial districts do not require that inferior court judges be licensed attorneys. Second, limited jurisdiction courts are rarely courts of record: Transcripts of the proceedings are not produced on a routine basis. Third, inferior courts are characterized by informality, rapid processing, and high volume. Fourth, many limited jurisdiction courts conduct only bench trials, although some states provide six person juries for the most serious inferior court cases. Fifth, a high percentage of civil and criminal cases processed by inferior courts proceed without attorneys representing either side: Generally speaking, the fees would on the one hand be too small to interest most attorneys, and on the other hand larger than the fines or judgments levied against criminal defendants and civil litigants. Finally, appeals of convictions or adverse decisions may go from inferior courts to general trial jurisdiction courts via a process known as trial de novo: An entirely new trial takes place in superior court, as if there had been no trial in the lower court. These lower courts are the tribunals most people are likely to encounter, but they have been accused of dispensing “rough justice”; as one observer commented, in these courts the “process is the punishment.”

Above the limited jurisdiction courts are the superior courts (courts of general trial jurisdiction). Every state has one or more of these. In some states they are called district or circuit courts, and in others supreme or superior courts, or courts of common pleas. On the criminal side, these are the courts responsible for handling felonies (as well as misdemeanors in a few states). On the civil side, general jurisdiction courts address all but the most minor civil disputes (again, except in a few states).

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