 | The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject.(December 2010) |
A county court is a court based in or with a jurisdiction covering one or more counties, which are administrative divisions (subnational entities) within a country, not to be confused with the medieval system of county courts held by the high sheriff of each county.
Since 2014, England and Wales have had what is officially described as "a single civil court" named the County Court, with unlimited financial jurisdiction. However it should be understood that there are County Court buildings and courtrooms throughout England and Wales, not one single location. It is "a single civil court" in the sense of a single centrally organised and administered court system. Before 2014 there were numerous separate county court systems, each with jurisdiction across England and Wales for enforcement of its orders, but each with a defined "county court district" from which it took claims. County court districts did not have the same boundaries as counties: the name was used because the county courts had evolved from courts which did in fact correspond to a county's territory. Today the court sits in many County Court centres, currently corresponding to the old individual county courts.
County Court matters can be lodged at a court in person, by post or via the Internet in some cases through the County Court Bulk Centre. Cases are normally heard at the court having jurisdiction over the area where the claimant lives. Most matters are decided by a district judge or circuit judge sitting alone. Civil matters in England (with minor exceptions, e.g. in some actions against the police) do not have juries. Judges in the County Court are either former barristers or former solicitors, whereas in the High Court they are more likely to have formerly been a barrister.
Civil claims with an amount in controversy under £10,000 (the Jackson Reforms have increased this from £5,000) are dealt with in the County Court under the small claims track (sometimes known to the lay public as "small claims court," although it is not a separate court). Claims between £10,000 and £25,000 (£15,000 for cases started before April 2009) that are capable of being tried within one day are allocated to the "fast track" and claims over £25,000 (£15,000 for cases started before April 2009) to the "multi track." These 'tracks' are labels for the use of the court system - the actual cases will be heard in the County Court or the High Court depending on their value. For personal injury, defamation, and some landlord-tenant dispute cases the thresholds for each track have different values.
Appeals are to a higher judge (a circuit judge hears district judge appeals), the High Court of Justice or to the Court of Appeal, as the case may be.
In debt cases, the aim of a claimant taking County Court action against a defendant is to secure a County Court judgment. This is a legal order to pay the full amount of the debt. Judgments can be enforced at the request of the claimant in a number of ways, including requesting the court bailiffs to seize goods, the proceeds of any sale being used to pay the debt, or an Attachment of Earnings Order, where the defendant's employer is ordered to make deductions from the gross wages to pay the claimant.
County Court judgments are recorded in the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines and in the defendant's credit records held by credit reference agencies. This information is used in consumer credit scores, making it difficult or more expensive for the defendant to obtain credit. In order to avoid the record being kept for years in the register, the debt must be settled within thirty days after the date the County Court judgment was served (unless the judgment was later set aside). If the debt was not fully paid within the statutory period, the entry will remain for six full years. [1]
County court is the name given to the intermediate court in one Australian state, namely the County Court of Victoria (in other states and territories it is called the 'District Court'). They hear indictable (serious) criminal offences except for treason, murder, and manslaughter. [2] Their civil jurisdiction is also intermediate, typically over civil disputes where the amount claimed is greater than a few tens of thousands of dollars but less than a few hundreds of thousands of dollars. The limits vary between states. In some states the same level of court is called a district court. Below them are the magistrates courts. Above them are the state supreme courts. Some states adopt the two-tier appellate system, with the magistrates courts below and the state supreme courts above.
In Northern Ireland there are seven county courts, following the same model as those of England and Wales before unification in 2014. These are the main civil courts. While higher-value cases are heard in the High Court, the county courts hear a wide range of civil actions, consumer claims, and appeals from magistrates' courts. The county courts are called family care centres when hearing proceedings brought under the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 and appeals from the family proceedings courts.
Many United States states have a county court system which, least common, may be purely administrative (such as in Missouri), focused primarily on registration of properties and deeds, or, most often, may have jurisdiction over civil cases such as lawsuits and criminal courts and jails (such as in New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, et cetera) where trials from misdemeanors to felony cases are centered about a common jail system managed by the county sheriffs departments. For example, in Texas, county courts exclusively handle Class A and B misdemeanors (these carry jail time as well as fines), share jurisdiction with justice of the peace and district courts on some mid-size civil cases, and have appellate jurisdiction from municipal and justice of the peace court cases.
With the growth of the largest cities, many large urban centers have subsumed whole or most of counties within the unofficial or official municipal borders, blurring the distinction between the types of government and their jurisdictions in the mind of the common inhabitant, but even television police drama's occasionally point out a county function (coroners, sheriffs, jails, courts, probation departments) different from a metropolis' police agencies, city governments, and district attorney's (prosecutors) offices (politically elected or appointed in most of the United States).
In those states with an administrative county court, the body acts as the executive agency for the local government. For example, Harry S. Truman was county judge of Jackson County, Missouri in the 1930s, an executive position rather than a judicial post. The County Commissioners in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts manage the county government, including funding civil and criminal courts, jails and Sheriffs departments overseeing said jails, as well as recording deeds, maintaining county roads and the like. In point of fact, each state has adjusted local governments powers and interactions to suit their own needs, so no one model is uniform even within the same state when the county is interfacing with a major city.
In counties of Tennessee, the primary legislative body was called a county court until the ratification by the voters of the state of the constitutional amendments of 1978, which change the term for this body in all but consolidated city-counties to county commission. Colloquially, the county commission is still frequently referred to as the "county court", particularly in rural areas. (The analogous body in consolidated city-counties is the metropolitan county council, usually shortened to "Metro council".) Likewise, five counties in Oregon are governed by a county court.
In Florida's four-tiered court system, the lower two tiers split original jurisdiction for both criminal and civil matters. broadly speaking, the jurisdiction of "county courts" is limited to misdemeanors and civil actions involving amounts in controversy less than $15,000.00, while the "circuit courts" handle felonies and larger civil cases.
In the states that have a judicial county court, such as New York, it generally handles trials for felonies, as well as appeals of misdemeanors from local courts and some small claims cases. It is a court of original jurisdiction, and thus handles mostly trials of accused felons. The New York County Court "is established in each county outside New York City. It is authorized to handle the prosecution of all crimes committed within the County. The County Court also has limited jurisdiction in civil cases ...." [3] More specifically, the New York County Court is:
authorized to handle the prosecution of all crimes committed within the county. It has exclusive authority to handle trials in felony matters and shares authority with the local city, town and village courts to handle trials in misdemeanor cases (offenses punishable by less than one year in prison) and other minor offenses and violations. The County Court also has limited authority to hear civil cases involving monetary awards of $25,000 or less. Although the County Court is primarily a trial court, in the Third and Fourth Departments it also has appellate jurisdiction over cases originating in City, Town and Village Courts.
In New York City, the New York City Criminal Court handles such jurisdiction. [4]
Otherwise in the United States, the courts of original jurisdiction in most states have jurisdiction over a particular county, parish, shire, or borough (comparable area entities in the various states of the USA); in other cases, instead of being called "county court" they are called "district courts" or "circuit courts" with a hierarchy of state "superior court" districts up to that state's 'supreme court'. Multiple courts of typically limited original jurisdiction within a county are usually called "district courts" or, if located in and serving a particular municipality, "municipal courts"; and are subordinate to the county superior or circuit court. In New York, 'superior'/'circuit' courts are called "supreme court". The court that in other US jurisdictions is called "supreme court" is called "court of appeal" in New York, Maryland and the District of Columbia.
Prior to 1924, the county courts were the main civil courts in Ireland, having jurisdiction over most civil matters, except for the larger actions which were heard by the High Court of Justice in Ireland or the assizes. Its jurisdiction was similar to that of the county courts in England and Wales. However, they differed from those court in their procedures. Claims were initiated by way of civil bill. Most matters were tried by a county court judge, and where necessary, a jury. The main administrative officer of the county court in each county was the Clerk of the Crown and Peace.
The Courts of Justice Act 1924 abolished the county courts in the Irish Free State and transferred their jurisdiction (together with that of the quarter sessions) to the Circuit Court. The Circuit Court is still based on the organisational structure established for the county courts and the main administrative officer of each circuit is now called the County Registrar.
County courts continue to exist in Northern Ireland. Civil bills are still used as the initiation document for Circuit Court/county court claims in both Irish jurisdictions, unlike in England and Wales.
Jurisdiction is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple levels.
In the United States, a state court has jurisdiction over disputes with some connection to a U.S. state. State courts handle the vast majority of civil and criminal cases in the United States; the United States federal courts are far smaller in terms of both personnel and caseload, and handle different types of cases. States often provide their trial courts with general jurisdiction and state trial courts regularly have concurrent jurisdiction with federal courts. Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction and their subject-matter jurisdiction arises only under federal law.
The Courts of England and Wales, supported administratively by His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service, are the civil and criminal courts responsible for the administration of justice in England and Wales.
In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, state attorney or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a local government area, typically a county or a group of counties. The exact scope of the office varies by state. Generally, the prosecutor represents the people of the jurisdiction in the state's courts. With the exception of three states, district attorneys are elected, unlike similar roles in other common law jurisdictions.
Circuit courts are court systems in several common law jurisdictions. It may refer to:
District courts are a category of courts which exists in several nations, some call them "small case court" usually as the lowest level of the hierarchy.
The Virginia General District Court (GDC) is the lowest level of the Virginia court system, and is the court that most Virginians have contact with. The jurisdiction of the GDC is generally limited to traffic cases and other misdemeanors, civil cases involving amounts of under $25,000. There are 32 GDC districts, each having at least one judge, and each having a clerk of the court and a courthouse with courtroom facilities.
The structure of the judiciary of Texas is laid out in Article 5 of the Constitution of Texas and is further defined by statute, in particular the Texas Government Code and Texas Probate Code. The structure is complex, featuring many layers of courts, numerous instances of overlapping jurisdiction, several differences between counties, as well as an unusual bifurcated appellate system at the top level found in only one other state: Oklahoma. Municipal Courts are the most active courts, with County Courts and District Courts handling most other cases and often sharing the same courthouse.
The Judiciary of Colorado is established and authorized by Article VI of the Colorado Constitution as well as the law of Colorado. The various courts include the Colorado Supreme Court, Colorado Court of Appeals, Colorado district courts, Colorado county courts, Colorado water courts, and municipal courts. The administration of the state judicial system is the responsibility of the Chief Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court as its executive head and is assisted by several other commissions. In Denver, the county and municipal courts are integrated and administratively separate from the state court system.
In Washington, there are several state courts. Judges are elected and serve four-year or six-year terms. Most judges first come to office when the governor of Washington appoints them after a vacancy is created – either by the death, resignation, retirement, or removal of a sitting judge, or when a new seat on the bench is created by the Washington State Legislature.
The Judiciary of New York is the judicial branch of the Government of New York, comprising all the courts of the State of New York.
In the Nevada state court system, the Nevada District Courts are the trial courts of general jurisdiction, where criminal, civil, family, and juvenile matters are generally resolved through arbitration, mediation, and bench or jury trials.
The Wisconsin circuit courts are the general trial courts in the state of Wisconsin. There are currently 69 circuits in the state, divided into 9 judicial administrative districts. Circuit court judges hear and decide both civil and criminal cases. Each of the 249 circuit court judges are elected and serve six-year terms.
The Alameda County Superior Court, officially the Superior Court of California, County of Alameda, is the California superior court with jurisdiction over Alameda County as established by Article VI of the Constitution of California. It functions as the trial court for both criminal and civil cases filed in Alameda County.
The Massachusetts District Court is a trial court in Massachusetts that hears a wide range of criminal, civil, housing, juvenile, mental health, and other types of cases.
The Florida State Courts System is the unified state court system of Florida.
The Judiciary of Virginia is defined under the Constitution and law of Virginia and is composed of the Supreme Court of Virginia and subordinate courts, including the Court of Appeals, the Circuit Courts, and the General District Courts. Its administration is headed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the Judicial Council, the Committee on District Courts, the Judicial Conferences, the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission, and various other offices and officers.
The judiciary of Michigan is defined under the Michigan Constitution, law, and regulations as part of the Government of Michigan. The court system consists of the Michigan Supreme Court, the Michigan Court of Appeals as the intermediate appellate court, the circuit courts and district courts as the two primary trial courts, and several administrative courts and specialized courts. The Supreme Court administers all the courts. The Michigan Supreme Court consists of seven members who are elected on non-partisan ballots for staggered eight-year terms, while state appellate court judges are elected to terms of six years and vacancies are filled by an appointment by the governor, and circuit court and district court judges are elected to terms of six years.
The judiciary of Ohio is the branch of the government of Ohio that interprets and applies the law of Ohio, ensures equal justice under law, and provides a mechanism for dispute resolution. The court of last resort is the Ohio Supreme Court.
The County Court is a national civil court for England and Wales with unlimited financial jurisdiction.