Difference between revisions of "State court"
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[[California Judiciary]] | [[California Judiciary]] | ||
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Revision as of 16:18, March 27, 2009
State court is a court established by state rather than federal law. It is typically a court of general jurisdiction, except when established by state law to handle only a particular type of claim, such as small claims court. A typical state court system has four levels:
- a trial court of limited jurisdiction, typically called a district court, a municipal court, or a justice court;
- a trial court of general jurisdiction, typically called a superior court or a circuit court;
- an intermediate appellate court; and
- a state supreme court.
However, there is a trend toward consolidation of the first two levels into a single level of trial courts.
Typically, all state courts except the trial court of limited jurisdiction are courts of record. In states where the lower-level trial court is not a court of record, when a decision of such a court is appealed to the higher-level trial court, the higher-level trial court hears the matter de novo, as there is no record on which to base an appeal.